Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Legend of Explosive Youth! ❯ Team 7: I Want To Read What Comes Next ( Chapter 8 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: dialNforNinja 
Whatever happened to Tenten and Neji?
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Martial Arts / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.28.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 8.5K | Visits: 485 | Status: Completed
Whatever happened to Tenten and Neji?
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Martial Arts / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.28.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 8.5K | Visits: 485 | Status: Completed
txy05_t7_bells.txt
2007-12-13 - initial file created, notes transferred from DWMB saves
2007-12-27 - intro scene, nearly all dialogue for the bell test
2008-05-03 - knocked this one out as a break from Team 6
2008-05-09 - added Hinata/Neji scene to the end since this was the only part in the right time frame, it was short anyway, and this way it covers both of Lee's missing canon team mates
*Well, here goes,* Tenten thought, smoothing down her sleeveless pink blouse and re-checking the weapon and scroll holsters at her waist. *I finally get assigned to a genin team today.* It was a bit nerve wracking, even though she knew everyone from classes. If only she'd been teamed up with Neji... *Then, I wouldn't have met Neshan-sensei,* she reminded herself, and oddly enough it really was a comfort. Even if the rookies she'd be paired with somehow failed their jounin-sensei's team test, she was pretty sure the Special Jounin would let her go back to the way things had been the past year. It's not like that would be so bad, it was actually kind of fun doing something different all the time...
Genin squads are in groups of three under a jounin sensei. Always. One of the few things every known hidden village agreed on was that it was the optimum tactical arrangement for the range of missions most common in their line of work, at the level genin could handle. So, when her own class had graduated last year with sixteen students, she'd been the unlucky odd one, stuck waiting until a squad had a slot open up due to combat losses or promotion - and it had been a good year for Konoha's genin, with only two permanent casualties, both slots filled from the team who'd had a member promoted at the Chuunin Exam held in Kumogakure just after she graduated.
A genin without a team, she'd been neither fish nor fowl - not an Academy student, and not able to take missions. Normally that wouldn't be a big problem - a rookie in a situation like that would just train with their parents while they waited, or quit and enter civilian life after all - but she had no desire to sell cabbages for a living, and the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago had left her orphaned at roughly a year old with no idea who her family might have been, so she had no parents to train with or mooch off of. Worse still, her Widows and Orphans Fund stipend was drastically reduced as a graduate, since genin were assumed to start taking missions, and hence getting paid. It might have gotten difficult if Neshan-sensei hadn't worked out an arrangement for her.
Because the status of active duty teams was outside the Academy senseis' purview she'd been told on that day to report to the head of the Archives Division (and thereby ultimately the Academy and Training departments as well,) Special Jounin Baksuta Neshan, in order to find out what her assignment would be. Since there wasn't one available, being a generally nice sort of fellow and serious about his responsibility for seeing the students and genin of the Leaf educated, he agreed to teach her himself when he could make time from his regular work - which mainly meant during his normal personal training time, as it turned out, which had led to her dabbling in fuinjutsu since he was a master of the art. At first just for sealing scrolls to let her carry even more weapons - normal clothes could only have so many hidden pockets, after all - then for a few of the more interesting tricks he'd been able to show her.
Just being able to make her own explosive tags multiplied her threat potential tenfold, for one thing. She'd never have been able to afford the things in quantity on genin pay, let alone her stipend, and she was even able to trade them for credit at the weapon shops to get the huge numbers of kunai and shuriken she carried. It was great for her chakra control, too.
That had come later, though - when the first stipend payment after her graduation was made and she discovered that it wasn't a mistake, he'd been the only person Tenten could think of to ask for advice. He'd come through again, arranging for various stints as an assistant in one aspect or another of his division. Sometimes it was reshelving scrolls in the low-security branches of the Archives proper, sometimes she helped one of the Academy teachers (she was a student favorite as shuriken instructor, apparently, despite only having done that a half dozen times) sometimes even getting paid to help one of the jounin-sensei from other genin cells drill their team in weapons use and evasion or squad-level pursuit tactics.
A shiver ran down her spine at the thought that she could have gotten stuck with that one jounin who had his entire squad in tight body suits and those ugly leg warmers. *Maybe I was really the lucky one,* she mused. But, now it was time to get in there and join a team of her very own. Resolved, Tenten squared her shoulders (producing a faint clink of metal-on-metal, she still had to tweak the padding between the hidden pockets in a few places) slid open the classroom door, and stepped through.
Legend of Explosive Youth Part Three
Team Seven: I Want to Read What Comes Next
Used to seeing her as an assistant teacher, the new gradutes quieted slightly as Tenten entered, and some gave her odd looks as she made her way to a seat at the student desks and sat down, but things picked up again quickly enough. The Yamanaka and Haruno girls were arguing over who had the better claim to Uchiha Sasuke's heart and/or other anatomy, as usual, while the boy in question steadfastly ignored them and everyone else - his making eye contact as she'd walked in was in the way of being a major social event, or would have been if it wasn't the way he 'greeted' any teacher or assistant. She was just glad his admirers either hadn't noticed or had dismissed it as a teacher-greeting, they were loud enough when she WASN'T their focus.
"I can't believe you'd two-time Sasuke-kun for my weirdo brothers!" Sakura accused shrilly. "Oh well, that just means you suit them perfectly, Ino-pig!" She waited until the scandalised blonde opened her mouth to return fire before cutting her off to continue, "Wait, since they're twins, is that two-timing or three-timing?"
Ino sputtered and reddened in a mix of embarrassment and rage, but was again interupted before she could respond, this time by Umino Iruka, acting in his final capacity as their class's primary Ninja Academy instructor as he called for the freshly minted genin to settle down so he could announce their teams. "... Next, Team Seven. It's a little different this time; although she graduated last year Tenten will be on this team, with Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. Team-"
Sakura's exultant shouting and end-zone dance drowned her former sensei out. He tolerated it with an amused look for a minute or so before once again calling for order so he could get on with the assignments. For her part, Tenten wondered why she'd been put with the top male and female students - she might not have been top of her own class, but she was far from the worst, and she'd had a whole extra year of regular one-on-one training with Neshan-sensei, not to mention more access to the stored knowledge of the Archives than the average genin thanks to her close relationship with him.
*Maybe they figured it would take the top rookies to keep up with me?* she thought to herself... from the handful of times she'd worked with their class she judged that was probably a reasonable guess, at least, though they weren't neccesarily the personalities she'd have picked if she were forming her own team. She took a more assessing look at the two, since it seemed they'd be working together now.
Sakura's pink hair was a bit long and bright to really be practical, and the way she wore her hitae-ate as a hair band didn't look all that secure, but at least her maroon dress was dark enough to fade into a nondescript brown in low light without being too obviously a ninja uniform, and if the white trim was more noticeable, well, Tenten's own sleeveless top was bright pink so she couldn't talk too loud. The dark shorts under the high-slit sides were practical enough, and she had a standard butt-pack equipment pouch.
Sasuke's outfit was much darker, a high-collared navy top and grey shorts, though any pretense at subtlety was ruined by the big Uchiha crest on his back. *Someone should tell him that thing is like a big bull's eye,* she thought, *but maybe it's intentional, an armored spot to draw attention?* He had a thigh holster as well as the butt-pack, and stiff leather forearm guards secured with sport wraps for a bit of inconspiscious defense ability. His forehead protector was worn in the intended way, as well, to provide protection during headbutts and easily interposed against a thrown weapon aimed for an eye or temple.
The remaining team assignments were soon taken care of, and the genin were dismissed until the afternoon when their new jounin sensei would arrive to collect them. Sasuke immediately hopped out the window and made for somewhere secluded in order to ditch his fangirls - nothing unusual there, though for once none of them seemed tempted to try to follow anyway. Sakura was still basking in the glow of knowing she'd been teamed up with him and the rest were sulking because they hadn't, though Ino seemed to have shrugged it off and was now badgering her new team mates to go to lunch together.
*Not a bad idea,* Tenten thought, *even if Uchiha already bailed, I can still talk with Sakura and get to know each other.* Aloud she called, "Sakura! Let's go and have our lunch together, since we'll be teamed up now." She gave the pink tressed girl a friendly smile and nodded towards the classroom door.
"Sure, sempai," the younger girl replied. "I guess I got lucky to have you on my team, I'm still only so-so at shuriken..."
Tenten laughed as they headed out. "If we're going to be team mates now I think you can just call me by my name, ne? I'll still be happy to help you with your weapons practise anyway. Kunoichi gotta stick together, you know!"
---=- + -=---
Lunchtime conversation started as a less-than-subtle probe by Sakura as to whether she'd now have to start competing over Sasuke with Tenten - as if the Uchha had anything over Hyuuga Neji, the top student from her own year! - then moved on to more general gossip about who was interested in what other boys and the latest styles in hair, clothes, and ninja equipment. To be honest, Tenten was quite relieved to see the boy sauntering toward them as it got closer to the time they were due back; she liked gossip as much as the next girl but there had to be a limit! Seeing the speculative look Sasuke was sending their way the brash Sakura suddenly became all coy and bashful, it was all the older girl could do to keep her amusement at the situation to a small grin.
"Tenten," he greeted seriously - no 'sempai' from him - "You graduated last year, but were not on a team. Instead you were an Academy assistant, something normally only done by chuunin. For what reason?"
*So that's it, his pride is offended because he has to be on a normal team while I got to do something solo?* "It wasn't so much like that... I did help out with weapons training sometimes, but more with the younger years than your class, and it was only a dozen or so times in all. More often I did civilian stuff for the Archives. It's because there wasn't a place on a team when I graduated, and I had to do something to earn money since I'm on my own. It wasn't like it was a privelege, it meant a lot of late nights and early mornings to get less pay than the lamest D-rank mission."
Eyes narrowed, the moody boy grunted acknowledgement and looked away.
Eager to be involved in a discussion her crush was actually participating in, Sakura gushed, "Mou, you two are so lucky, not having a curfew or anything ... My dad would flip out if I even thought of staying out at night."
The Uchiha's gaze snapped back to the girls, his usual cool mask positively glacial. He looked down at her coldly for a moment, restraining his temper, and her smile faltered even before he spoke. "Sakura... You're annoying. The pain of having a parent yell at you... you can't even compare it." Looking back at the Academy building, he concluded, "Come on. It's nearly time to return," then began walking away without waiting to see if they would follow.
"..." Sakura hung her head and shrunk in on herself. She hid behind her bangs, utterly crushed.
"..." Tenten was torn between compassion for the girl, and her own annoyance at Sakura's unintentionaly cruel comment.
Finally, it was the younger girl who broke the awkward silence. "... Sorry, Tenten ..."
"It's... not totally unbearable," the brunette said softly. *Okay, she was a little insensitive, he didn't have to say it like THAT.* "Sasuke was a bit harsh, I think."
Sakura gave her a timid, apologetic smile. "I still spoke without thinking... I'm very sorry!"
"It's forgiven, team mate. Come on, he was right about it being time to go back."
---=- + -=---
After a three-hour wait that had Tenten's fingers itching to set up a trap or five as punishment, their new sensei appeared. He was whipcord thin, obviously trained for speed rather than pure strength, with messy white hair, a mask over the nose and mouth, and his hitae-ate worn on a slant that covered the left eye completely. He'd brought them up to the roof rather than hang around any longer in the classroom, and perched on the railing while they found their own seats.
"Okay, let's begin with some introductions," he said. "Names, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies... that kind of thing."
"Why don't you go first, sensei," suggested Sakura. "Yeah, what a suspiscious-looking guy," she muttered, obviously not intending the comment to be out loud.
He ignored that, replying, "Eh, me? My name is Hatake Kakashi... I have no desire to talk about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future...? Hmm... Well, I have lots of hobbies..."
Tenten and Sakura traded glances, the pinkette muttering again, "So... all we learned was his name?"
"Now it's your turn," the jounin ordered. "From the right, with your hair up in buns, you first."
"My name is Tenten," the girl began, "and I don't use a clan name. I like learning to use new seals and weapons with Neshan-sensei, who taught me this past year until I could be placed with a normal team. I dislike traitors and people who think kunoichi can't be just as good as male ninja. My dream is to become a great kunoichi like the legendary Tsunade-hime. Hobbies... I already said weapons training, so ..." Her cheeks developed a light tint, but whatever (or more specifically, whoever) she was thinking of, she shook it off before finishing, "... reading historical romances."
*A girl who is serious about being a ninja,* thought Sasuke as the attention turned to him. *At least there's a chance she'll stay out of my way, and be able to take care of herself while I get things done. Good.* Aloud, he said, "I am Uchiha Sasuke. I dislike many things, and don't especially like anything. And... I don't want to use the word 'dream,' but I have an ambition. To rebuild my clan, and... to kill a certain man."
Tenten obviously had no idea how to respond to that, but Sakura had no such difficulty, both sides agreeing that the Uchiha was just sooo cool, saying such things so calmly. *Oh yeah, what a total hunk!* Inner Sakura drooled. Looking at him admiringly, Sakura imagined this as a new start, a chance to finally build their love without Ino-pig or any of the other girls interfering, and introduced herself. "I'm Haruno Sakura, the thing I like is... Well, the person I like is..." She didn't want to be too forward, and trailed off with a light blush.
"Umm, should I say my dream for the future...?" It might seem a little childish, her plan to stand out from the drab crowd by being a glamorous movie-star kunoichi, to take care of the goons but let her Uchiha hunk have the limelight by battling the main villian to rescue her in the nick of time, and then there'd be sunsets and blossoms in the wind and... "Oh my!" Sakura squealed, hiding her face until the rush of embarrassment faded.
Collecting herself, she remembered skipping a category. "The thing I dislike is people who interfere with others' hearts," she said with a sad grimace, thinking about how her freindship with Ino had turned into bitter arguments and rivalry, but perked up again, thinking of the photos and little mementos that filled the Sasuke Shelf in her room as she peeked at him again. "My hobby is..." She trailed off, yet again absorbed in inner dialogue.
*It seems girls of this age are more interested in romance... even the serious one,* Kakashi thought, more amused than irritated. A little time in the field would settle the obsessed one down. He smirked under the mask, anticipating the looks the genin would have when he told them about the test they'd face tomorrow.
---=- + -=---
"Psst, Sakura!"
"Eep!" The pink haired girl stifled a startled shriek in her fists and jumped backwards as Tenten appeared from under a bush beside her.
"Shh!" the older genin shushed. "I think I've got a way for all three of us to pass this test, but I'll need you to help."
Sakura blinked at her and replied, "Huh? But there's only two bells..."
"Right, but Kakashi-sensei said 'One bell is equal to one lunch' remember?" Tenten gave her team mate a significant look. "Two bells, on his belt, two lunches just sitting there on the post..."
Seeing the plan, Sakura asked, "Ah? But ... Why not just get one of them yourself and leave the hard way to Sasuke-kun and me?"
"Duh, he's a -jounin,-" the brunette explained, "and he's standing right there. Just sneaking past is impossible, and I've been training a whole year more than you two. I'm really good at ranged combat, and I've gotten good at escape and evasion, but only so-so at best in hand to hand, so I'd never get a bell that way either. But, Sasuke's supposed to be good at taijutsu, right? If you steal the lunches while Sasuke and I distract him, even if he only gets one, we can all still pass, and split the lunches into three or something."
"Got it!" the Haruno girl acknowledged. "But why can't I work with Sasuke-kun while you steal the bento?" she complained.
Just as willing to avoid close comabt with a jounin, the older girl asked, "What's your best skill, stealth or taijutsu? I kind of assumed it wasn't taijutsu with your build and that skirt you can't kick well in, but I don't mind switching if you want to..."
Sakura REALLY didn't want to admit that she was only good at information collection and theory, even if stealth was her best field skill. "Um... No, okay," she agreed.
Brightening, Tenten chirped, "Okay! You get around to that side of the clearing while I find Sasuke, so you're ready to go when we attack." She scuttled out of sight again, utterly silent - the time spent working on her hidden pockets last night was well worth it, she judged, even if it had left her on the tired side today.
---=- + -=---
"Psst, Sasuke!"
The Uchiha boy made no move to acknowledge her as Tenten appeared from behind a tree. "Go away. You'll draw attention," he grumped.
"Now is that any way to talk to a team mate?" she scolded. "Listen, I've got a way for all three of us to pass. Remember --"
"No."
"Hey!" she complained, insulted.
"Fool, now he's walking this way." The boy gave her a scornful glance, saying, "I don't need anyone's help, I'll get a bell myself. If you want to be useful then stay here and distract Kakashi while I move." He slipped around a bush and was gone without further comment, leaving the clanless girl to gape at the utter lack of cooperation.
"Damn, talk about having a stick up your butt. Oh well, a distraction is a distraction I guess..." She settled the fingerless gloves more snugly on her hands, then produced half a dozen throwing knives arranged between the fingers of her right hand. They were much higher quality than the usual genin gear, longer and more aerodynamic than the standard kunai, and thanks to her time with Neshan-sensei the added size and weight that made most ninja forgo them in favor of the more versatile kunai wasn't a problem. Retreiving a dozen or so kunai from her holster in the other hand as well to shave off a few seconds once things got going, she took a deep breath and got ready to attack.
Kakashi knew well enough where all of his students had gone when he signaled them to begin, though the older girl's extra year of practise showed in that he wasn't too sure where she'd moved after first getting out of sight... except, of course, that first one and then the other of her team mates had rustled around and been talking to someone. Even he couldn't actually tell what they were saying from so far away, but that there were voices was plain enough... and gave just the faintest glimmer of the possibility that maybe, this group of genin would understand the real meaning of the excercise and become a team.
A hail of throwing knives and kunai burst out of the position he'd marked for the Uchiha as he approached, confirming the thought that she'd met up with him, and he wondered when Sakura would try closing her side of the pincer. Such a strategy wasn't bad for a bunch of rookies - probably the older girl's hand showing again, he'd heard from Yuuichiro that she'd been a tricky target for his team's excercises despite having a Hyuuga and a Hino to track her with the Byakugan and nin-birds. Most of his attention still on his book he snapped the other hand out to grab the first knife and deflect the others, then had to dodge unexpectedly instead when it vanished from his grip in a tiny puff of chakra smoke.
*Shuriken Kage Bunshin?* he wondered, *Or some kind of summon? Either way, it shouldn't be possible for a genin...* More throwing knives appeared, and yes, the first set that should have been on the ground around him were gone. Another flight of kunai followed but he was out of position to dodge, having taken a moment too long looking around for the missing blades. Two dozen razor-sharp knives thunked into his form with a spray of blood, even as the girl who'd thrown them finally appeared from the greenery.
Seeing what looked like such overwhelming success from her attack didn't fool Tenten, though she thought she might have heard a gasp from the side of the clearing Sakura was supposed to have headed for. She took the pole of her sun and moon fork in a firm grip and spun in place, whirling it around her body to ward off any retaliatory strike.
Sure enough, by the time she faced it again her 'dead' sensei had reverted into a 'Kawarimi' log, and the sharp, crescent moon blade on one end of her weapon was deflected away with a kunai as he appeared beside her. Skipping backward and setting herself for another exchange she called out, "Come on, Uchiha! Quit being a dick and help, already!"
Another moon-strike was deftly avoided, and her swipe with the large brass 'sun' sphere on the other end was caught in Kakashi's off hand, trapping her weapon and leaving the girl open for a slash with the kunai still in his right that slit her throat like a cabbage. Unconcerned, the jounin dropped the sun and moon fork and watched as the image of his student reverted to a log just as his own had. The way the weapon vanished as well a moment later, like the throwing knives before it, combined with the girl's mention of her interim sensei to explain how she'd managed that first surprise. *Hmm... kunai coming from two directions, this time... but Haruno still hasn't shown herself. Maa, well, perhaps it was too much to hope for with this group as well,* he thought. *She did make it a little bit fun, though, and there's still some time left before the alarm goes off for the other girl to get it together and work with her comrades...*
He blocked the incoming weapons with his kunai and another snatched out of the barrage from his left, but made no further move to track the genin when it ended, since they had to face him directly eventually to get the bells that were their objective.
Sasuke was a little impressed despite himself. Tenten had attracted Kakashi's attention to his position, true, but she'd ably covered his movement to a new one, had used an intriguing weapon jutsu and traded a few blows with the man without showing fear, and then used a kawarimi to escape that was flawless even to him - if he hadn't known that no jounin sensei would actually kill their students for a test he might have believed it. Even better, if they could wear Kakashi down a bit he was sure he could capture the bells... He'd even give one to Tenten, since she was actually being helpful in some small way, even if it was unneccesary.
He stopped and decided to move closer before throwing the last of his kunai and shuriken, to use them to cover his charge in to close range so he could take the bells. Seeing Kakashi reach for his book again when no further attacks were forthcoming the dark haired boy leapt out of the bushes, but settled into a watchful stance for a moment rather than immediately rush in like some hot headed idiot. *Kiba, for example. The fleabag and his mutt would proabbly have been knocked down and charged back in three times by now,* he thought smugly.
Tenten had taken advantage of the short break to set up some of her special kunai launcher traps and switch her right glove for the one that had the control seals for them etched into separate knuckle and fingertip plates instead of a single large plate on the back of the palm like her usual pair, though she kept the same one on her left hand. They took a lot of chakra for her to use and she'd had to train hard in control to channel it only to the seal she wanted out of the eight on the glove, but she'd found the ability to be her own ranged backup was a huge benefit well worth the effort expended, and even the loss of fingertip sensitivity on that hand.
Seeing Sasuke come out of cover at last she fished out another double handful of kunai to throw and moved so she'd be out of the firing path of her self-reloading traps. Too bad she hadn't had time to unseal a few kama or nunchaku, but as long as Sakura did her part it would probably be fine.
---=- + -=---
*Right. It was just FINE.* Tenten felt like kicking herself for her own naivete once she regained consciousness and collected her scrambled wits, as a blushing Sakura offered one of the bento she'd successfully pilfered while Tenten and Sasuke were getting their asses kicked to the taciturn Uchiha.
"It's okay Sasuke-kun, you can take one of the lunches... One bell equals one lunch, right?" the little pink... BIMBO simpered.
Tenten couldn't take any more. "Sakura! It was MY plan, remember!? Why would you... AAARGH!!"
"Keh," the boy snorted, arms folded sulkily across his chest as he sat beside the training pole. A few more bits of dirt flaked out of the seams of his shirt from when he'd been captured in an earth-type ninjutsu.
Shimmying a bit the brunette girl produced another of her vast array of hidden knives and cut the ropes holding her to the post. "I can't -believe- you two! ARGH! Just hurry up and finish the lecture Kakashi-san, I need to go tell Neshan-sensei it didn't work out."
With a lazy blink of his one eye the jounin watched her free herself and straighten her clothes. "Ah? Well... It would probably take a while to get rid of all your hidden blades, so I guess it's all right. More importantly... You three don't need to go back to the Academy."
Sakura goggled up at him, clutching her bento box like a talisman. "We don't... ? But even Sasuke only touched a bell... Was just getting the lunches really enough?" She beamed.
Kakashi did not. "No. You all... Should quit as ninjas."
Face crumpling, the pinkette stammered, "W-what?"
Spinning around from where she'd turned away in pique, Tenten demanded, "Why should I quit!?"
Sasuke tensed and grit his teeth, then in a flash he'd leapt to his feet and was attacking Kakashi again, knuckles white as he held a kunai in a death-grip. Even faster the jounin had him disarmed and helpless on the ground, ignoring Sakura's protest at such rough treatment of her crush and the boy's own fruitless struggles. He casually sat on the downed genin as if he was nothing more than a handy cushion. "You have missed the point of this test, though Tenten almost had it," the jounin explained.
"The point of the test...?" Tenten thought back over it for a moment, then ground her teeth and glared at the other two genin again.
"That's right," Kakashi replied. "The answer to this test, that helps you pass it."
Hating the too-familiar dissapointed looks from her sensei and the scornful glare of a girl she'd hoped might be a new friend, Sakura blurted, "So when are you going to tell us this answer!?" Damn that look... Kakashi was looking at Sakura just like her sister or her mom when they lectured her about being more serious as a ninja.
"Teamwork," he said, simply. "The three of you almost had it, but..." Kakashi looked down at his captive, scowling face pressed against a tuft of grass. "Sasuke, you thought only of yourself, and wouldn't even listen to a possible plan. In battle, lone wolf actions will only cause trouble and the death of your comrades. Sakura, you thought only of Sasuke, and even when you carried out your part of a plan you abandoned your partner Tenten for Sasuke when his solo attempt failed." He gave her another hard look, before turning to the last of the genin. "Sorry, Tenten-san, you got a bad team, it seems, though you did well looking underneath the underneath. Maybe the Academy COULD make something out of you..."
"What!? Kakashi-sensei, please!" Sakura pleaded. Her conscience bit her and she threw a guilty look at the other girl before adding, "At least Tenten...?"
*WHAT!? No way, it's got to be a mind game. I've TAUGHT at the Academy, for crying out loud. Just as an assistant, but still.* Tenten held her glare for another second, then softened and let her eyes stop burning more holes in the Haruno's head. She looked at Kakashi and cajoled, "Come on, sensei, that's too cruel..."
The jounin rubbed the back of his head distractedly, then stood and let the Uchiha up. "Well... I guess if you all feel that way, I can give you another chance. But, this afternoon the test will be much harder. Since that was the rule, don't give Tenten any lunch, or you'll fail. I'll be back in half an hour... I have to go get one re-admission request form from the Academy." He vanished in a swirl of leaves and a tiny puff of chakra smoke.
Still incensed, Tenten flopped down to lean against the post and pulled out her seal scroll to retreive some more serious weapons to use in the afternoon, so her chakra level would have as much time as possible to recover before combat began again. After a moment's hesitation, she also retreived a thick pack of explosive tags, part of the big stockpile she'd built up in preparation for finally going into active field duty. *I held back from using them before in what was, ultimately, a training excercise, but my so-called teeam mates aren't the only ones I'm pissed at right now...* the steaming girl thought.
She was far too angry to get embarrassed at the loud, hollow growl her stomach made at the delicious smells of rice and fish and stir fried vegetables wafting off the lunches as the others began eating. "Should have known something was up when the jerk told us to skip breakfast," she grumbled, swallowing the saliva that seemed to want to drown her. She stripped the waxed paper wrapper off her bundle of tags and slipped them into an outside pocket for quick access.
Suddenly, she realised there was an open, only lightly picked over boxed lunch hovering tantalisingly in front of her. Following the arm that held it led to Sasuke, looking at her with an unreadable expression. "Here, take it," he grunted, turning away again.
Sakura's eyes fairly blazed a poisonous green until she realised what a golden opportunity it was to split her own lunch with him. Still - "But... Sensei just said..."
"I can't sense him anywhere nearby," the boy said, still hunched in a cool-looking broody pose. "We'll all need to be at full strength this afternoon, or it'll just be worse."
Accepting the undeniable logic and still guilty over being the one to profit from the other girl's planning and bruises, Sakura silently offered her own lunch as well with a shamed bow.
Suddenly, a huge cloud of smoke appeared, right in front of the horrified trio. A voice rang out, all but unrecogniseable with rage. "YOU!"
Tenten choked on her mouthful of rice and veggies, while Sasuke was frozen, unable to even twitch as he heard it. *Oh no, nonono,* the last loyal Uchiha shouted in his mind.
"YOU ALL...!!"
"No, no, he's going to fail us all or make us quit, why couldn't I just follow the rules!?" Sakura panicked, babbling under her breath with a stricken look.
The smoke cleared with a swirl of wind, leaving Kakashi leaning over them, his one eye screwed up from an unseen smile. "Pass!"
"AAAaaah...?" The youngest Haruno's horrified shout trailed off and she repeated numbly, "We pass?"
"But you said..." Sasuke didn't exactly want to ARGUE with such good fortune, but it didn't make any SENSE!
"Heh..." For all the terrifying aura he'd just been feigning, happiness practically dripped off the man as he flopped down in front of them and stole a piece of battered fish out of one of the now forgotten lunches. Somehow it vanished from his hand without the mask ever seeming to move. "In the ninja world, there are many rules. Those who ignore them and fail their mission are considered trash, but... Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash! You're the first group who ignored my rules and fed their team mate. So, starting today, you'll be in my care as ninja of Konoha."
---=- + -=---
Heading home that evening, Sasuke stopped at a news stand, to pick up his usual manga and the weekly intelligence report. Heading to the cash register, a display of newly released novels caught his eye... A samurai in brightly painted armor was bowing and offering a bundle of carnations to some too-skinny noble woman in archaic robes. He dithered a minute, compared his usual expenses to the stipend he allowed himself from the Uchiha clan holdings... then reached out and took a copy, shuffling it into the stack of his other purchases.
"It's for my team mate," he growled at the cashier. He steadfastly ignored the faint burning sensation in the tips of his ears.
---=- + -=---
Hyuuga Hinata swallowed convulsively and wrung her hands until the skin stung. What she was about to do... What she was thinking of... It was probably no good, but maybe... "Just the thought is so unlike me!" she whispered to herself, "but Naruto-kun..."
*Naruto waved and gave her a big thumbs up before turning to leave the classroom. 'Ne, Hinata-san, get better soon, okay? Good luck!'*
*Looking out the window for one last glance, she saw that plain, ungraceful tomboy poor Naruto had to put up with having on his team had grabbed him by the arm. The awful girl made him carry her weight as they left the Academy and headed toward the market district ... Undoubtedly begging for presents! Unforgiveable!*
Hinata blushed harder at the memory, as well as the discovery when she'd turned back to the front that she'd unconsciously channeled enough of a chakra aura to leave scorch marks on her desk, and everyone was staring.
Iruka-sensei had tried to make her feel better by praising her for generating such a powerful aura, as if such a terrible lapse in control was anything but another huge failiure in her long, long list. She'd never even managed to tell Naruto-kun how much she admired him, and now some other girl...
She stilled her hands, and set her shoulders. "No," she said firmly to herself. "N-Naruto-kun told me to g-get better... He believed I-I can... In j-just one thing, I -won't- fail."
Her target's team had already finished their mission for the day and the others had left the training area they'd regrouped in, leaving only him there, still going through his taijutsu forms with a deadly grace. He'd know she was there, of course, but had so far ignored her. That wasn't a surprise, she was used to being insignificant.
Heart pounding in her chest, the shy girl stepped out from behind her screen of bushes with a quiet, "Please excuse the intrusion..."
The boy's back-length fall of sleek, blue-black hair trailed gracefully to a stop as he stilled and faced the girl, acknowledging her presence with his usual shuttered expression and a calm, formal greeting. "Hinata-sama. Is there something you require?"
Swallowing again as her throat tried to close up from nervousness, she pressed her hands into a supplicating gesture and asked, "Neji-niisan, please h-help me train! K-Kurenai-sensei is... an amazing person, but s-she can't help... w-with Jyuuken."
From the bushes on the other side of the clearing, Neji's team mates and sensei watched, unwilling to leave him with a hidden watcher even if he had dismissed her as no threat. Rei, a girl with long, dark hair and a short purple and red dress outfit, was from the Hino clan of shrine guardians and held a contract with ravens like the Inuzuka and their dogs. Her companions Ojike and Roubai were sure that the unfamiliar girl had the chakra reserves of at least a low chuunin, not the newbie genin she appeared.
Of course, some families tended to greater chakra, her other team mate Usagi's Tsukino clan being well known for it, among others, but the Hyuuga actually tended to be weaker in that area, making up the lack with all but inhumanly perfect control. Since they'd had a mission outside the village today her outfit was a dark grey leotard with navy blue and maroon for the pleated skirt, neckerchief, and trim, a stealthier, field version of her usual training uniform. "Eeeh!?" she exclaimed, barely remembering to keep her voice down. "My Neji-kun has a sister!?"
"Not so loud, Meatball-head!" Rei scolded the blond, her usual half-teasing insult referring to the traditional hairstyle the Tsukino girl wore. "And what do you mean, YOUR Neji-kun?"
"If you start one of your usual arguments, we'll certainly be found out," their sensei noted conversationally. An orphan who'd been fostered by the prestigious Gekko sword-masters, he forwent the usual jounin garb for a dull brown dogi and a back harness for his several swords.
"Anyway, they are both from the Leaf's noble Hyuuga clan, but they are not siblings. Though their fathers were twins, Hinata is from the Main House, while because his father was the second born, Neji is a member of the Branch House. Further, the relationship is not as good as with the Tsukino head and branch families, for example. Instead, the Main house has made a number of rules to give themselves advantage, causing hardship and resentment in Branch members like Neji, though he usually controls it well."
Usagi's eyes brimmed with tears at the thought of a family where her cousins would hate her enough to be as cold as Neji was being, and he could tell Rei was touched by the situation as well, though she buried it under her usual angry facade. "How do you know this kind of stuff, anyway?" she demanded. "We barely got Neji to say his whole name at our introductions, and he never talks about himself."
Yuuichiro smirked lopsidedly from beneath his mop of unruly brown spikes. "I -am- an elite jounin sensei. It's my job to know things, especially things others want to keep hidden."
In the clearing, the younger Hyuuga had continued her appeal. "Father is- is busy with Hanabi-neechan, so... So p-pleaselendmeyourstrength!" By the end of the request she was blurting out the words in a rush to get them all out before her courage fled under his cold eyes.
Eyes that had hardened with every word she said, until they were like chips of flint, sharp and stern enough to strike sparks from steel, for all that they were as pale as her own. "Lend you my strength..." He bit the words out with a quiet viciousness that made his Main House cousin tremble where she stood before calming himself once more. "The strength of a person is determined when they are born, bound to them with the immutable chains of destiny. Hinata-sama... even if you graduated, and were accepted by your jounin sensei... you are not fit to be a ninja."
Ignoring his cousin's striken look, Neji continued to declaim, "Your heart is too kind, you wish for harmony and avoid conflict. You agree with the will of others, and have no confidence in yourself. That feeling of inferiority... Anyone can see it on you, and that is why they do not believe in your ability. Why should they, when you do not believe in it yourself?"
One cheek twitched all but imperceptably, as if he was trying to force a smile but couldn't even remember how. His voice remained flat and even as he concluded, "Hinata-sama, if you remain on this course, it will only bring you greater pain. I can not give you the strength destiny assigned to me, any more than you can release the weakness that it has chained to you..." Though his voice was unchanged, a terrible spark of spite still burned behind the pale chakra-channeling membrane that hid his irises and pupils. "For the sake of yourself, and for all those who would feel the weight of your destiny of failure... It would be best if you quit as a ninja."
"H-how cruel..." Usagi whispered from behind her bush. Yuuichiro's face was set in a hard line, but he wouldn't interfere - if words alone could defeat the girl, her cousin would unfortunately be right. Rei sniffled, but tried to hide it by murmuring to the ravens sitting on her shoulders.
*Ne, Hinata, get better soon!*
*Neji-niisan is wrong... There is one person who believes in me, even though he only met me once.* Hinata bowed deeply. "N-neji-niisan, perhaps it's true that... That I can't change enough t-to be a strong ninja... But ... I will not lose to my rival ... I can become that strong, at least! I b-beg you ... to help me become that strong!"
"For the heiress of the Main House, to bow and beg before a member of the Branch," he declared scornfully. "Truly, you are a shameful person."
*Get better soon!*
Though her heart ached to be the focus of such harsh statements, the younger girl was determined to persevere. "F-f-for the person I admire... I can do ... Even this..." Delicately, she knelt and bowed until her short bangs brushed the grass of the clearing. "Ano... I-I beg you, help me to ch-change just... that much, brother..."
Neji felt the cold yet familiar certainty of his hatred for the Main House crack. *Was such a thing not what I dreamed of, to see the one who is weak, yet destined to high status by birth, humbled before me, who has talent but is chained to a fate of servitude?* It was his -ultimate- victory, so why did it seem like ashes in his mouth? Scowl deepening, he snapped, "Stand up, Hinata-sama! Even a failiure of the Hyuuga should not bow to anyone."
"I beg of you!"
Neji closed his eyes, and drew another calming breath. "Stand up, and take the Jyuuken's first stance. Even if your destiny is failiure, mine is still to serve the whim of the Main House. I will help you as you ask, until you accept your destiny."
Hinata stood, and even his cynical heart couldn't feel contempt at the gratitude on her face, as he knew he should at the sight of such weakness. "Thank you, Neji-niisan. I kn-know that you ... W-won't fail to h-help me."
Yuuichiro tugged at his kunoichi students' shoulders, leading them away now that the crisis seemed to have passed. "I just knew my Neji-kun wasn't such a heartless person," the blonde sniffled through her now happy tears, at seeing estranged family members reconciled.
"What!? It's totally obvious she just guilted him into it, Meatball-head! And -what- have I said about claiming Neji-kun for yourself!?"
Yuuichiro sighed, and wondered for the hundredth time what evil spirit had possessed him to became an Elite and take on a genin team. *Oh, right, sibling rivalry. Hayate is still only Special Jounin, and has to deal with the whole Espionage/Counter-Espionage Division instead of three kids... Damn, he wins this round completely...*
---=- + -=---
(Would you like to know more?)
===================================
Aside from the characters and setting borrowed from the Naruto manga by Kishimoto Masahi, Neji's team mates and sensei more loosely from Sailor Moon by Takeuchi Naoko, and Baksuta Neshan being the insert character of one of my co-conspirators in his own fic, borrowed to fill a cameo role in this one, this part was pretty much all me, ClassicDrogn aka dialNforNinja. And surprisingly quick to write it was, too - I find that I quite like this Tenten and just like the chapter title, I wanted to read what comes next.
END OF LINE
2007-12-13 - initial file created, notes transferred from DWMB saves
2007-12-27 - intro scene, nearly all dialogue for the bell test
2008-05-03 - knocked this one out as a break from Team 6
2008-05-09 - added Hinata/Neji scene to the end since this was the only part in the right time frame, it was short anyway, and this way it covers both of Lee's missing canon team mates
*Well, here goes,* Tenten thought, smoothing down her sleeveless pink blouse and re-checking the weapon and scroll holsters at her waist. *I finally get assigned to a genin team today.* It was a bit nerve wracking, even though she knew everyone from classes. If only she'd been teamed up with Neji... *Then, I wouldn't have met Neshan-sensei,* she reminded herself, and oddly enough it really was a comfort. Even if the rookies she'd be paired with somehow failed their jounin-sensei's team test, she was pretty sure the Special Jounin would let her go back to the way things had been the past year. It's not like that would be so bad, it was actually kind of fun doing something different all the time...
Genin squads are in groups of three under a jounin sensei. Always. One of the few things every known hidden village agreed on was that it was the optimum tactical arrangement for the range of missions most common in their line of work, at the level genin could handle. So, when her own class had graduated last year with sixteen students, she'd been the unlucky odd one, stuck waiting until a squad had a slot open up due to combat losses or promotion - and it had been a good year for Konoha's genin, with only two permanent casualties, both slots filled from the team who'd had a member promoted at the Chuunin Exam held in Kumogakure just after she graduated.
A genin without a team, she'd been neither fish nor fowl - not an Academy student, and not able to take missions. Normally that wouldn't be a big problem - a rookie in a situation like that would just train with their parents while they waited, or quit and enter civilian life after all - but she had no desire to sell cabbages for a living, and the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago had left her orphaned at roughly a year old with no idea who her family might have been, so she had no parents to train with or mooch off of. Worse still, her Widows and Orphans Fund stipend was drastically reduced as a graduate, since genin were assumed to start taking missions, and hence getting paid. It might have gotten difficult if Neshan-sensei hadn't worked out an arrangement for her.
Because the status of active duty teams was outside the Academy senseis' purview she'd been told on that day to report to the head of the Archives Division (and thereby ultimately the Academy and Training departments as well,) Special Jounin Baksuta Neshan, in order to find out what her assignment would be. Since there wasn't one available, being a generally nice sort of fellow and serious about his responsibility for seeing the students and genin of the Leaf educated, he agreed to teach her himself when he could make time from his regular work - which mainly meant during his normal personal training time, as it turned out, which had led to her dabbling in fuinjutsu since he was a master of the art. At first just for sealing scrolls to let her carry even more weapons - normal clothes could only have so many hidden pockets, after all - then for a few of the more interesting tricks he'd been able to show her.
Just being able to make her own explosive tags multiplied her threat potential tenfold, for one thing. She'd never have been able to afford the things in quantity on genin pay, let alone her stipend, and she was even able to trade them for credit at the weapon shops to get the huge numbers of kunai and shuriken she carried. It was great for her chakra control, too.
That had come later, though - when the first stipend payment after her graduation was made and she discovered that it wasn't a mistake, he'd been the only person Tenten could think of to ask for advice. He'd come through again, arranging for various stints as an assistant in one aspect or another of his division. Sometimes it was reshelving scrolls in the low-security branches of the Archives proper, sometimes she helped one of the Academy teachers (she was a student favorite as shuriken instructor, apparently, despite only having done that a half dozen times) sometimes even getting paid to help one of the jounin-sensei from other genin cells drill their team in weapons use and evasion or squad-level pursuit tactics.
A shiver ran down her spine at the thought that she could have gotten stuck with that one jounin who had his entire squad in tight body suits and those ugly leg warmers. *Maybe I was really the lucky one,* she mused. But, now it was time to get in there and join a team of her very own. Resolved, Tenten squared her shoulders (producing a faint clink of metal-on-metal, she still had to tweak the padding between the hidden pockets in a few places) slid open the classroom door, and stepped through.
Legend of Explosive Youth Part Three
Team Seven: I Want to Read What Comes Next
Used to seeing her as an assistant teacher, the new gradutes quieted slightly as Tenten entered, and some gave her odd looks as she made her way to a seat at the student desks and sat down, but things picked up again quickly enough. The Yamanaka and Haruno girls were arguing over who had the better claim to Uchiha Sasuke's heart and/or other anatomy, as usual, while the boy in question steadfastly ignored them and everyone else - his making eye contact as she'd walked in was in the way of being a major social event, or would have been if it wasn't the way he 'greeted' any teacher or assistant. She was just glad his admirers either hadn't noticed or had dismissed it as a teacher-greeting, they were loud enough when she WASN'T their focus.
"I can't believe you'd two-time Sasuke-kun for my weirdo brothers!" Sakura accused shrilly. "Oh well, that just means you suit them perfectly, Ino-pig!" She waited until the scandalised blonde opened her mouth to return fire before cutting her off to continue, "Wait, since they're twins, is that two-timing or three-timing?"
Ino sputtered and reddened in a mix of embarrassment and rage, but was again interupted before she could respond, this time by Umino Iruka, acting in his final capacity as their class's primary Ninja Academy instructor as he called for the freshly minted genin to settle down so he could announce their teams. "... Next, Team Seven. It's a little different this time; although she graduated last year Tenten will be on this team, with Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. Team-"
Sakura's exultant shouting and end-zone dance drowned her former sensei out. He tolerated it with an amused look for a minute or so before once again calling for order so he could get on with the assignments. For her part, Tenten wondered why she'd been put with the top male and female students - she might not have been top of her own class, but she was far from the worst, and she'd had a whole extra year of regular one-on-one training with Neshan-sensei, not to mention more access to the stored knowledge of the Archives than the average genin thanks to her close relationship with him.
*Maybe they figured it would take the top rookies to keep up with me?* she thought to herself... from the handful of times she'd worked with their class she judged that was probably a reasonable guess, at least, though they weren't neccesarily the personalities she'd have picked if she were forming her own team. She took a more assessing look at the two, since it seemed they'd be working together now.
Sakura's pink hair was a bit long and bright to really be practical, and the way she wore her hitae-ate as a hair band didn't look all that secure, but at least her maroon dress was dark enough to fade into a nondescript brown in low light without being too obviously a ninja uniform, and if the white trim was more noticeable, well, Tenten's own sleeveless top was bright pink so she couldn't talk too loud. The dark shorts under the high-slit sides were practical enough, and she had a standard butt-pack equipment pouch.
Sasuke's outfit was much darker, a high-collared navy top and grey shorts, though any pretense at subtlety was ruined by the big Uchiha crest on his back. *Someone should tell him that thing is like a big bull's eye,* she thought, *but maybe it's intentional, an armored spot to draw attention?* He had a thigh holster as well as the butt-pack, and stiff leather forearm guards secured with sport wraps for a bit of inconspiscious defense ability. His forehead protector was worn in the intended way, as well, to provide protection during headbutts and easily interposed against a thrown weapon aimed for an eye or temple.
The remaining team assignments were soon taken care of, and the genin were dismissed until the afternoon when their new jounin sensei would arrive to collect them. Sasuke immediately hopped out the window and made for somewhere secluded in order to ditch his fangirls - nothing unusual there, though for once none of them seemed tempted to try to follow anyway. Sakura was still basking in the glow of knowing she'd been teamed up with him and the rest were sulking because they hadn't, though Ino seemed to have shrugged it off and was now badgering her new team mates to go to lunch together.
*Not a bad idea,* Tenten thought, *even if Uchiha already bailed, I can still talk with Sakura and get to know each other.* Aloud she called, "Sakura! Let's go and have our lunch together, since we'll be teamed up now." She gave the pink tressed girl a friendly smile and nodded towards the classroom door.
"Sure, sempai," the younger girl replied. "I guess I got lucky to have you on my team, I'm still only so-so at shuriken..."
Tenten laughed as they headed out. "If we're going to be team mates now I think you can just call me by my name, ne? I'll still be happy to help you with your weapons practise anyway. Kunoichi gotta stick together, you know!"
---=- + -=---
Lunchtime conversation started as a less-than-subtle probe by Sakura as to whether she'd now have to start competing over Sasuke with Tenten - as if the Uchha had anything over Hyuuga Neji, the top student from her own year! - then moved on to more general gossip about who was interested in what other boys and the latest styles in hair, clothes, and ninja equipment. To be honest, Tenten was quite relieved to see the boy sauntering toward them as it got closer to the time they were due back; she liked gossip as much as the next girl but there had to be a limit! Seeing the speculative look Sasuke was sending their way the brash Sakura suddenly became all coy and bashful, it was all the older girl could do to keep her amusement at the situation to a small grin.
"Tenten," he greeted seriously - no 'sempai' from him - "You graduated last year, but were not on a team. Instead you were an Academy assistant, something normally only done by chuunin. For what reason?"
*So that's it, his pride is offended because he has to be on a normal team while I got to do something solo?* "It wasn't so much like that... I did help out with weapons training sometimes, but more with the younger years than your class, and it was only a dozen or so times in all. More often I did civilian stuff for the Archives. It's because there wasn't a place on a team when I graduated, and I had to do something to earn money since I'm on my own. It wasn't like it was a privelege, it meant a lot of late nights and early mornings to get less pay than the lamest D-rank mission."
Eyes narrowed, the moody boy grunted acknowledgement and looked away.
Eager to be involved in a discussion her crush was actually participating in, Sakura gushed, "Mou, you two are so lucky, not having a curfew or anything ... My dad would flip out if I even thought of staying out at night."
The Uchiha's gaze snapped back to the girls, his usual cool mask positively glacial. He looked down at her coldly for a moment, restraining his temper, and her smile faltered even before he spoke. "Sakura... You're annoying. The pain of having a parent yell at you... you can't even compare it." Looking back at the Academy building, he concluded, "Come on. It's nearly time to return," then began walking away without waiting to see if they would follow.
"..." Sakura hung her head and shrunk in on herself. She hid behind her bangs, utterly crushed.
"..." Tenten was torn between compassion for the girl, and her own annoyance at Sakura's unintentionaly cruel comment.
Finally, it was the younger girl who broke the awkward silence. "... Sorry, Tenten ..."
"It's... not totally unbearable," the brunette said softly. *Okay, she was a little insensitive, he didn't have to say it like THAT.* "Sasuke was a bit harsh, I think."
Sakura gave her a timid, apologetic smile. "I still spoke without thinking... I'm very sorry!"
"It's forgiven, team mate. Come on, he was right about it being time to go back."
---=- + -=---
After a three-hour wait that had Tenten's fingers itching to set up a trap or five as punishment, their new sensei appeared. He was whipcord thin, obviously trained for speed rather than pure strength, with messy white hair, a mask over the nose and mouth, and his hitae-ate worn on a slant that covered the left eye completely. He'd brought them up to the roof rather than hang around any longer in the classroom, and perched on the railing while they found their own seats.
"Okay, let's begin with some introductions," he said. "Names, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies... that kind of thing."
"Why don't you go first, sensei," suggested Sakura. "Yeah, what a suspiscious-looking guy," she muttered, obviously not intending the comment to be out loud.
He ignored that, replying, "Eh, me? My name is Hatake Kakashi... I have no desire to talk about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future...? Hmm... Well, I have lots of hobbies..."
Tenten and Sakura traded glances, the pinkette muttering again, "So... all we learned was his name?"
"Now it's your turn," the jounin ordered. "From the right, with your hair up in buns, you first."
"My name is Tenten," the girl began, "and I don't use a clan name. I like learning to use new seals and weapons with Neshan-sensei, who taught me this past year until I could be placed with a normal team. I dislike traitors and people who think kunoichi can't be just as good as male ninja. My dream is to become a great kunoichi like the legendary Tsunade-hime. Hobbies... I already said weapons training, so ..." Her cheeks developed a light tint, but whatever (or more specifically, whoever) she was thinking of, she shook it off before finishing, "... reading historical romances."
*A girl who is serious about being a ninja,* thought Sasuke as the attention turned to him. *At least there's a chance she'll stay out of my way, and be able to take care of herself while I get things done. Good.* Aloud, he said, "I am Uchiha Sasuke. I dislike many things, and don't especially like anything. And... I don't want to use the word 'dream,' but I have an ambition. To rebuild my clan, and... to kill a certain man."
Tenten obviously had no idea how to respond to that, but Sakura had no such difficulty, both sides agreeing that the Uchiha was just sooo cool, saying such things so calmly. *Oh yeah, what a total hunk!* Inner Sakura drooled. Looking at him admiringly, Sakura imagined this as a new start, a chance to finally build their love without Ino-pig or any of the other girls interfering, and introduced herself. "I'm Haruno Sakura, the thing I like is... Well, the person I like is..." She didn't want to be too forward, and trailed off with a light blush.
"Umm, should I say my dream for the future...?" It might seem a little childish, her plan to stand out from the drab crowd by being a glamorous movie-star kunoichi, to take care of the goons but let her Uchiha hunk have the limelight by battling the main villian to rescue her in the nick of time, and then there'd be sunsets and blossoms in the wind and... "Oh my!" Sakura squealed, hiding her face until the rush of embarrassment faded.
Collecting herself, she remembered skipping a category. "The thing I dislike is people who interfere with others' hearts," she said with a sad grimace, thinking about how her freindship with Ino had turned into bitter arguments and rivalry, but perked up again, thinking of the photos and little mementos that filled the Sasuke Shelf in her room as she peeked at him again. "My hobby is..." She trailed off, yet again absorbed in inner dialogue.
*It seems girls of this age are more interested in romance... even the serious one,* Kakashi thought, more amused than irritated. A little time in the field would settle the obsessed one down. He smirked under the mask, anticipating the looks the genin would have when he told them about the test they'd face tomorrow.
---=- + -=---
"Psst, Sakura!"
"Eep!" The pink haired girl stifled a startled shriek in her fists and jumped backwards as Tenten appeared from under a bush beside her.
"Shh!" the older genin shushed. "I think I've got a way for all three of us to pass this test, but I'll need you to help."
Sakura blinked at her and replied, "Huh? But there's only two bells..."
"Right, but Kakashi-sensei said 'One bell is equal to one lunch' remember?" Tenten gave her team mate a significant look. "Two bells, on his belt, two lunches just sitting there on the post..."
Seeing the plan, Sakura asked, "Ah? But ... Why not just get one of them yourself and leave the hard way to Sasuke-kun and me?"
"Duh, he's a -jounin,-" the brunette explained, "and he's standing right there. Just sneaking past is impossible, and I've been training a whole year more than you two. I'm really good at ranged combat, and I've gotten good at escape and evasion, but only so-so at best in hand to hand, so I'd never get a bell that way either. But, Sasuke's supposed to be good at taijutsu, right? If you steal the lunches while Sasuke and I distract him, even if he only gets one, we can all still pass, and split the lunches into three or something."
"Got it!" the Haruno girl acknowledged. "But why can't I work with Sasuke-kun while you steal the bento?" she complained.
Just as willing to avoid close comabt with a jounin, the older girl asked, "What's your best skill, stealth or taijutsu? I kind of assumed it wasn't taijutsu with your build and that skirt you can't kick well in, but I don't mind switching if you want to..."
Sakura REALLY didn't want to admit that she was only good at information collection and theory, even if stealth was her best field skill. "Um... No, okay," she agreed.
Brightening, Tenten chirped, "Okay! You get around to that side of the clearing while I find Sasuke, so you're ready to go when we attack." She scuttled out of sight again, utterly silent - the time spent working on her hidden pockets last night was well worth it, she judged, even if it had left her on the tired side today.
---=- + -=---
"Psst, Sasuke!"
The Uchiha boy made no move to acknowledge her as Tenten appeared from behind a tree. "Go away. You'll draw attention," he grumped.
"Now is that any way to talk to a team mate?" she scolded. "Listen, I've got a way for all three of us to pass. Remember --"
"No."
"Hey!" she complained, insulted.
"Fool, now he's walking this way." The boy gave her a scornful glance, saying, "I don't need anyone's help, I'll get a bell myself. If you want to be useful then stay here and distract Kakashi while I move." He slipped around a bush and was gone without further comment, leaving the clanless girl to gape at the utter lack of cooperation.
"Damn, talk about having a stick up your butt. Oh well, a distraction is a distraction I guess..." She settled the fingerless gloves more snugly on her hands, then produced half a dozen throwing knives arranged between the fingers of her right hand. They were much higher quality than the usual genin gear, longer and more aerodynamic than the standard kunai, and thanks to her time with Neshan-sensei the added size and weight that made most ninja forgo them in favor of the more versatile kunai wasn't a problem. Retreiving a dozen or so kunai from her holster in the other hand as well to shave off a few seconds once things got going, she took a deep breath and got ready to attack.
Kakashi knew well enough where all of his students had gone when he signaled them to begin, though the older girl's extra year of practise showed in that he wasn't too sure where she'd moved after first getting out of sight... except, of course, that first one and then the other of her team mates had rustled around and been talking to someone. Even he couldn't actually tell what they were saying from so far away, but that there were voices was plain enough... and gave just the faintest glimmer of the possibility that maybe, this group of genin would understand the real meaning of the excercise and become a team.
A hail of throwing knives and kunai burst out of the position he'd marked for the Uchiha as he approached, confirming the thought that she'd met up with him, and he wondered when Sakura would try closing her side of the pincer. Such a strategy wasn't bad for a bunch of rookies - probably the older girl's hand showing again, he'd heard from Yuuichiro that she'd been a tricky target for his team's excercises despite having a Hyuuga and a Hino to track her with the Byakugan and nin-birds. Most of his attention still on his book he snapped the other hand out to grab the first knife and deflect the others, then had to dodge unexpectedly instead when it vanished from his grip in a tiny puff of chakra smoke.
*Shuriken Kage Bunshin?* he wondered, *Or some kind of summon? Either way, it shouldn't be possible for a genin...* More throwing knives appeared, and yes, the first set that should have been on the ground around him were gone. Another flight of kunai followed but he was out of position to dodge, having taken a moment too long looking around for the missing blades. Two dozen razor-sharp knives thunked into his form with a spray of blood, even as the girl who'd thrown them finally appeared from the greenery.
Seeing what looked like such overwhelming success from her attack didn't fool Tenten, though she thought she might have heard a gasp from the side of the clearing Sakura was supposed to have headed for. She took the pole of her sun and moon fork in a firm grip and spun in place, whirling it around her body to ward off any retaliatory strike.
Sure enough, by the time she faced it again her 'dead' sensei had reverted into a 'Kawarimi' log, and the sharp, crescent moon blade on one end of her weapon was deflected away with a kunai as he appeared beside her. Skipping backward and setting herself for another exchange she called out, "Come on, Uchiha! Quit being a dick and help, already!"
Another moon-strike was deftly avoided, and her swipe with the large brass 'sun' sphere on the other end was caught in Kakashi's off hand, trapping her weapon and leaving the girl open for a slash with the kunai still in his right that slit her throat like a cabbage. Unconcerned, the jounin dropped the sun and moon fork and watched as the image of his student reverted to a log just as his own had. The way the weapon vanished as well a moment later, like the throwing knives before it, combined with the girl's mention of her interim sensei to explain how she'd managed that first surprise. *Hmm... kunai coming from two directions, this time... but Haruno still hasn't shown herself. Maa, well, perhaps it was too much to hope for with this group as well,* he thought. *She did make it a little bit fun, though, and there's still some time left before the alarm goes off for the other girl to get it together and work with her comrades...*
He blocked the incoming weapons with his kunai and another snatched out of the barrage from his left, but made no further move to track the genin when it ended, since they had to face him directly eventually to get the bells that were their objective.
Sasuke was a little impressed despite himself. Tenten had attracted Kakashi's attention to his position, true, but she'd ably covered his movement to a new one, had used an intriguing weapon jutsu and traded a few blows with the man without showing fear, and then used a kawarimi to escape that was flawless even to him - if he hadn't known that no jounin sensei would actually kill their students for a test he might have believed it. Even better, if they could wear Kakashi down a bit he was sure he could capture the bells... He'd even give one to Tenten, since she was actually being helpful in some small way, even if it was unneccesary.
He stopped and decided to move closer before throwing the last of his kunai and shuriken, to use them to cover his charge in to close range so he could take the bells. Seeing Kakashi reach for his book again when no further attacks were forthcoming the dark haired boy leapt out of the bushes, but settled into a watchful stance for a moment rather than immediately rush in like some hot headed idiot. *Kiba, for example. The fleabag and his mutt would proabbly have been knocked down and charged back in three times by now,* he thought smugly.
Tenten had taken advantage of the short break to set up some of her special kunai launcher traps and switch her right glove for the one that had the control seals for them etched into separate knuckle and fingertip plates instead of a single large plate on the back of the palm like her usual pair, though she kept the same one on her left hand. They took a lot of chakra for her to use and she'd had to train hard in control to channel it only to the seal she wanted out of the eight on the glove, but she'd found the ability to be her own ranged backup was a huge benefit well worth the effort expended, and even the loss of fingertip sensitivity on that hand.
Seeing Sasuke come out of cover at last she fished out another double handful of kunai to throw and moved so she'd be out of the firing path of her self-reloading traps. Too bad she hadn't had time to unseal a few kama or nunchaku, but as long as Sakura did her part it would probably be fine.
---=- + -=---
*Right. It was just FINE.* Tenten felt like kicking herself for her own naivete once she regained consciousness and collected her scrambled wits, as a blushing Sakura offered one of the bento she'd successfully pilfered while Tenten and Sasuke were getting their asses kicked to the taciturn Uchiha.
"It's okay Sasuke-kun, you can take one of the lunches... One bell equals one lunch, right?" the little pink... BIMBO simpered.
Tenten couldn't take any more. "Sakura! It was MY plan, remember!? Why would you... AAARGH!!"
"Keh," the boy snorted, arms folded sulkily across his chest as he sat beside the training pole. A few more bits of dirt flaked out of the seams of his shirt from when he'd been captured in an earth-type ninjutsu.
Shimmying a bit the brunette girl produced another of her vast array of hidden knives and cut the ropes holding her to the post. "I can't -believe- you two! ARGH! Just hurry up and finish the lecture Kakashi-san, I need to go tell Neshan-sensei it didn't work out."
With a lazy blink of his one eye the jounin watched her free herself and straighten her clothes. "Ah? Well... It would probably take a while to get rid of all your hidden blades, so I guess it's all right. More importantly... You three don't need to go back to the Academy."
Sakura goggled up at him, clutching her bento box like a talisman. "We don't... ? But even Sasuke only touched a bell... Was just getting the lunches really enough?" She beamed.
Kakashi did not. "No. You all... Should quit as ninjas."
Face crumpling, the pinkette stammered, "W-what?"
Spinning around from where she'd turned away in pique, Tenten demanded, "Why should I quit!?"
Sasuke tensed and grit his teeth, then in a flash he'd leapt to his feet and was attacking Kakashi again, knuckles white as he held a kunai in a death-grip. Even faster the jounin had him disarmed and helpless on the ground, ignoring Sakura's protest at such rough treatment of her crush and the boy's own fruitless struggles. He casually sat on the downed genin as if he was nothing more than a handy cushion. "You have missed the point of this test, though Tenten almost had it," the jounin explained.
"The point of the test...?" Tenten thought back over it for a moment, then ground her teeth and glared at the other two genin again.
"That's right," Kakashi replied. "The answer to this test, that helps you pass it."
Hating the too-familiar dissapointed looks from her sensei and the scornful glare of a girl she'd hoped might be a new friend, Sakura blurted, "So when are you going to tell us this answer!?" Damn that look... Kakashi was looking at Sakura just like her sister or her mom when they lectured her about being more serious as a ninja.
"Teamwork," he said, simply. "The three of you almost had it, but..." Kakashi looked down at his captive, scowling face pressed against a tuft of grass. "Sasuke, you thought only of yourself, and wouldn't even listen to a possible plan. In battle, lone wolf actions will only cause trouble and the death of your comrades. Sakura, you thought only of Sasuke, and even when you carried out your part of a plan you abandoned your partner Tenten for Sasuke when his solo attempt failed." He gave her another hard look, before turning to the last of the genin. "Sorry, Tenten-san, you got a bad team, it seems, though you did well looking underneath the underneath. Maybe the Academy COULD make something out of you..."
"What!? Kakashi-sensei, please!" Sakura pleaded. Her conscience bit her and she threw a guilty look at the other girl before adding, "At least Tenten...?"
*WHAT!? No way, it's got to be a mind game. I've TAUGHT at the Academy, for crying out loud. Just as an assistant, but still.* Tenten held her glare for another second, then softened and let her eyes stop burning more holes in the Haruno's head. She looked at Kakashi and cajoled, "Come on, sensei, that's too cruel..."
The jounin rubbed the back of his head distractedly, then stood and let the Uchiha up. "Well... I guess if you all feel that way, I can give you another chance. But, this afternoon the test will be much harder. Since that was the rule, don't give Tenten any lunch, or you'll fail. I'll be back in half an hour... I have to go get one re-admission request form from the Academy." He vanished in a swirl of leaves and a tiny puff of chakra smoke.
Still incensed, Tenten flopped down to lean against the post and pulled out her seal scroll to retreive some more serious weapons to use in the afternoon, so her chakra level would have as much time as possible to recover before combat began again. After a moment's hesitation, she also retreived a thick pack of explosive tags, part of the big stockpile she'd built up in preparation for finally going into active field duty. *I held back from using them before in what was, ultimately, a training excercise, but my so-called teeam mates aren't the only ones I'm pissed at right now...* the steaming girl thought.
She was far too angry to get embarrassed at the loud, hollow growl her stomach made at the delicious smells of rice and fish and stir fried vegetables wafting off the lunches as the others began eating. "Should have known something was up when the jerk told us to skip breakfast," she grumbled, swallowing the saliva that seemed to want to drown her. She stripped the waxed paper wrapper off her bundle of tags and slipped them into an outside pocket for quick access.
Suddenly, she realised there was an open, only lightly picked over boxed lunch hovering tantalisingly in front of her. Following the arm that held it led to Sasuke, looking at her with an unreadable expression. "Here, take it," he grunted, turning away again.
Sakura's eyes fairly blazed a poisonous green until she realised what a golden opportunity it was to split her own lunch with him. Still - "But... Sensei just said..."
"I can't sense him anywhere nearby," the boy said, still hunched in a cool-looking broody pose. "We'll all need to be at full strength this afternoon, or it'll just be worse."
Accepting the undeniable logic and still guilty over being the one to profit from the other girl's planning and bruises, Sakura silently offered her own lunch as well with a shamed bow.
Suddenly, a huge cloud of smoke appeared, right in front of the horrified trio. A voice rang out, all but unrecogniseable with rage. "YOU!"
Tenten choked on her mouthful of rice and veggies, while Sasuke was frozen, unable to even twitch as he heard it. *Oh no, nonono,* the last loyal Uchiha shouted in his mind.
"YOU ALL...!!"
"No, no, he's going to fail us all or make us quit, why couldn't I just follow the rules!?" Sakura panicked, babbling under her breath with a stricken look.
The smoke cleared with a swirl of wind, leaving Kakashi leaning over them, his one eye screwed up from an unseen smile. "Pass!"
"AAAaaah...?" The youngest Haruno's horrified shout trailed off and she repeated numbly, "We pass?"
"But you said..." Sasuke didn't exactly want to ARGUE with such good fortune, but it didn't make any SENSE!
"Heh..." For all the terrifying aura he'd just been feigning, happiness practically dripped off the man as he flopped down in front of them and stole a piece of battered fish out of one of the now forgotten lunches. Somehow it vanished from his hand without the mask ever seeming to move. "In the ninja world, there are many rules. Those who ignore them and fail their mission are considered trash, but... Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash! You're the first group who ignored my rules and fed their team mate. So, starting today, you'll be in my care as ninja of Konoha."
---=- + -=---
Heading home that evening, Sasuke stopped at a news stand, to pick up his usual manga and the weekly intelligence report. Heading to the cash register, a display of newly released novels caught his eye... A samurai in brightly painted armor was bowing and offering a bundle of carnations to some too-skinny noble woman in archaic robes. He dithered a minute, compared his usual expenses to the stipend he allowed himself from the Uchiha clan holdings... then reached out and took a copy, shuffling it into the stack of his other purchases.
"It's for my team mate," he growled at the cashier. He steadfastly ignored the faint burning sensation in the tips of his ears.
---=- + -=---
Hyuuga Hinata swallowed convulsively and wrung her hands until the skin stung. What she was about to do... What she was thinking of... It was probably no good, but maybe... "Just the thought is so unlike me!" she whispered to herself, "but Naruto-kun..."
*Naruto waved and gave her a big thumbs up before turning to leave the classroom. 'Ne, Hinata-san, get better soon, okay? Good luck!'*
*Looking out the window for one last glance, she saw that plain, ungraceful tomboy poor Naruto had to put up with having on his team had grabbed him by the arm. The awful girl made him carry her weight as they left the Academy and headed toward the market district ... Undoubtedly begging for presents! Unforgiveable!*
Hinata blushed harder at the memory, as well as the discovery when she'd turned back to the front that she'd unconsciously channeled enough of a chakra aura to leave scorch marks on her desk, and everyone was staring.
Iruka-sensei had tried to make her feel better by praising her for generating such a powerful aura, as if such a terrible lapse in control was anything but another huge failiure in her long, long list. She'd never even managed to tell Naruto-kun how much she admired him, and now some other girl...
She stilled her hands, and set her shoulders. "No," she said firmly to herself. "N-Naruto-kun told me to g-get better... He believed I-I can... In j-just one thing, I -won't- fail."
Her target's team had already finished their mission for the day and the others had left the training area they'd regrouped in, leaving only him there, still going through his taijutsu forms with a deadly grace. He'd know she was there, of course, but had so far ignored her. That wasn't a surprise, she was used to being insignificant.
Heart pounding in her chest, the shy girl stepped out from behind her screen of bushes with a quiet, "Please excuse the intrusion..."
The boy's back-length fall of sleek, blue-black hair trailed gracefully to a stop as he stilled and faced the girl, acknowledging her presence with his usual shuttered expression and a calm, formal greeting. "Hinata-sama. Is there something you require?"
Swallowing again as her throat tried to close up from nervousness, she pressed her hands into a supplicating gesture and asked, "Neji-niisan, please h-help me train! K-Kurenai-sensei is... an amazing person, but s-she can't help... w-with Jyuuken."
From the bushes on the other side of the clearing, Neji's team mates and sensei watched, unwilling to leave him with a hidden watcher even if he had dismissed her as no threat. Rei, a girl with long, dark hair and a short purple and red dress outfit, was from the Hino clan of shrine guardians and held a contract with ravens like the Inuzuka and their dogs. Her companions Ojike and Roubai were sure that the unfamiliar girl had the chakra reserves of at least a low chuunin, not the newbie genin she appeared.
Of course, some families tended to greater chakra, her other team mate Usagi's Tsukino clan being well known for it, among others, but the Hyuuga actually tended to be weaker in that area, making up the lack with all but inhumanly perfect control. Since they'd had a mission outside the village today her outfit was a dark grey leotard with navy blue and maroon for the pleated skirt, neckerchief, and trim, a stealthier, field version of her usual training uniform. "Eeeh!?" she exclaimed, barely remembering to keep her voice down. "My Neji-kun has a sister!?"
"Not so loud, Meatball-head!" Rei scolded the blond, her usual half-teasing insult referring to the traditional hairstyle the Tsukino girl wore. "And what do you mean, YOUR Neji-kun?"
"If you start one of your usual arguments, we'll certainly be found out," their sensei noted conversationally. An orphan who'd been fostered by the prestigious Gekko sword-masters, he forwent the usual jounin garb for a dull brown dogi and a back harness for his several swords.
"Anyway, they are both from the Leaf's noble Hyuuga clan, but they are not siblings. Though their fathers were twins, Hinata is from the Main House, while because his father was the second born, Neji is a member of the Branch House. Further, the relationship is not as good as with the Tsukino head and branch families, for example. Instead, the Main house has made a number of rules to give themselves advantage, causing hardship and resentment in Branch members like Neji, though he usually controls it well."
Usagi's eyes brimmed with tears at the thought of a family where her cousins would hate her enough to be as cold as Neji was being, and he could tell Rei was touched by the situation as well, though she buried it under her usual angry facade. "How do you know this kind of stuff, anyway?" she demanded. "We barely got Neji to say his whole name at our introductions, and he never talks about himself."
Yuuichiro smirked lopsidedly from beneath his mop of unruly brown spikes. "I -am- an elite jounin sensei. It's my job to know things, especially things others want to keep hidden."
In the clearing, the younger Hyuuga had continued her appeal. "Father is- is busy with Hanabi-neechan, so... So p-pleaselendmeyourstrength!" By the end of the request she was blurting out the words in a rush to get them all out before her courage fled under his cold eyes.
Eyes that had hardened with every word she said, until they were like chips of flint, sharp and stern enough to strike sparks from steel, for all that they were as pale as her own. "Lend you my strength..." He bit the words out with a quiet viciousness that made his Main House cousin tremble where she stood before calming himself once more. "The strength of a person is determined when they are born, bound to them with the immutable chains of destiny. Hinata-sama... even if you graduated, and were accepted by your jounin sensei... you are not fit to be a ninja."
Ignoring his cousin's striken look, Neji continued to declaim, "Your heart is too kind, you wish for harmony and avoid conflict. You agree with the will of others, and have no confidence in yourself. That feeling of inferiority... Anyone can see it on you, and that is why they do not believe in your ability. Why should they, when you do not believe in it yourself?"
One cheek twitched all but imperceptably, as if he was trying to force a smile but couldn't even remember how. His voice remained flat and even as he concluded, "Hinata-sama, if you remain on this course, it will only bring you greater pain. I can not give you the strength destiny assigned to me, any more than you can release the weakness that it has chained to you..." Though his voice was unchanged, a terrible spark of spite still burned behind the pale chakra-channeling membrane that hid his irises and pupils. "For the sake of yourself, and for all those who would feel the weight of your destiny of failure... It would be best if you quit as a ninja."
"H-how cruel..." Usagi whispered from behind her bush. Yuuichiro's face was set in a hard line, but he wouldn't interfere - if words alone could defeat the girl, her cousin would unfortunately be right. Rei sniffled, but tried to hide it by murmuring to the ravens sitting on her shoulders.
*Ne, Hinata, get better soon!*
*Neji-niisan is wrong... There is one person who believes in me, even though he only met me once.* Hinata bowed deeply. "N-neji-niisan, perhaps it's true that... That I can't change enough t-to be a strong ninja... But ... I will not lose to my rival ... I can become that strong, at least! I b-beg you ... to help me become that strong!"
"For the heiress of the Main House, to bow and beg before a member of the Branch," he declared scornfully. "Truly, you are a shameful person."
*Get better soon!*
Though her heart ached to be the focus of such harsh statements, the younger girl was determined to persevere. "F-f-for the person I admire... I can do ... Even this..." Delicately, she knelt and bowed until her short bangs brushed the grass of the clearing. "Ano... I-I beg you, help me to ch-change just... that much, brother..."
Neji felt the cold yet familiar certainty of his hatred for the Main House crack. *Was such a thing not what I dreamed of, to see the one who is weak, yet destined to high status by birth, humbled before me, who has talent but is chained to a fate of servitude?* It was his -ultimate- victory, so why did it seem like ashes in his mouth? Scowl deepening, he snapped, "Stand up, Hinata-sama! Even a failiure of the Hyuuga should not bow to anyone."
"I beg of you!"
Neji closed his eyes, and drew another calming breath. "Stand up, and take the Jyuuken's first stance. Even if your destiny is failiure, mine is still to serve the whim of the Main House. I will help you as you ask, until you accept your destiny."
Hinata stood, and even his cynical heart couldn't feel contempt at the gratitude on her face, as he knew he should at the sight of such weakness. "Thank you, Neji-niisan. I kn-know that you ... W-won't fail to h-help me."
Yuuichiro tugged at his kunoichi students' shoulders, leading them away now that the crisis seemed to have passed. "I just knew my Neji-kun wasn't such a heartless person," the blonde sniffled through her now happy tears, at seeing estranged family members reconciled.
"What!? It's totally obvious she just guilted him into it, Meatball-head! And -what- have I said about claiming Neji-kun for yourself!?"
Yuuichiro sighed, and wondered for the hundredth time what evil spirit had possessed him to became an Elite and take on a genin team. *Oh, right, sibling rivalry. Hayate is still only Special Jounin, and has to deal with the whole Espionage/Counter-Espionage Division instead of three kids... Damn, he wins this round completely...*
---=- + -=---
(Would you like to know more?)
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Aside from the characters and setting borrowed from the Naruto manga by Kishimoto Masahi, Neji's team mates and sensei more loosely from Sailor Moon by Takeuchi Naoko, and Baksuta Neshan being the insert character of one of my co-conspirators in his own fic, borrowed to fill a cameo role in this one, this part was pretty much all me, ClassicDrogn aka dialNforNinja. And surprisingly quick to write it was, too - I find that I quite like this Tenten and just like the chapter title, I wanted to read what comes next.
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