Hi, guys! I'm back with another story! Hahah, super excited about this one. Please let me know what you think. (:

Chapter One

She was stronger, he noted as she advanced on him again. Which was to be expected after all the time that had passed, but she was significantly stronger. Stronger than what he would have expected from her. He briefly thought back to the few times he had interacted with her in the past, of her failure in the Chuunin Exams preliminaries, of how weak she used to be. Though he had been mildly impressed with her knowledge and understanding of weaponry and the massive arsenal she had carried with her - which seems to have expanded exponentially, he thought as he dodged another volley of weapons, a few of which he didn't recognize immediately.

Though he had recognized her almost instantly. She looked completely different from how she did back then, from when they were merely Genin. Her brown hair was in a high ponytail, though the ends of her hair still swept across her tailbone as she moved, and she now wore the standard Anbu garb without any personal touches except for an added white sash around her hips that held up two katana on her left hip. Even with the mask of a dragon baring its fangs aggressively covering her face, he knew it was her.

"I didn't think they'd ever send you," he spoke finally. "Tenten."

He had to commend her for keeping her composure when he revealed that he knew her identity, her only respone was a soft grunt as he landed a kick to her shoulder. He swiftly moved close to her as she popped her shoulder back into place. The tip of his sword carefully moved her mask away from her face, cold brown eyes met his. That's new, he thought, thinking back to the cheerful disposition she used to have. He leaned his face in closer to hers, his left hand gripping her right wrist stopping its ascension with a kunai.

"You've grown quite beautiful, Tenny-chan," he said silkily, his breath caressing her face.

Sasuke had grown to understand the power of his charm. Girls fell easily to his practiced words and smoldering looks, it was all too easy for him to trap them in his web of silken spun words and caresses. However, to his slight surprise, that was not the case with his former comrade. Her eyes remained cold and the only color in her cheeks was from their fight.

Had it been in any other situation, Tenten would have blushed at his words. But she couldn't afford to, she was on a mission, this was a fight, and he was her enemy. An enemy that the Hokage wanted brought back alive. She had to think of a way to get out of his grasp, he had the upperhand like this, but still apprehend him. She stared defiantly into his crimson eyes, as she ran through possible actions she could take. He is stronger than her, there's no point in trying to deny it to herself, he had just tried to use flattery on her, but from the almost imperceptible look of surprise that flitted across his face, he knew it hadn't worked on her. Tenten quickly came up with a plan, it had flaws, but it was the best she came up with in that moment.

Tenten pushed herself up onto her tip toes (when had he gotten so tall?) and pressed her lips to his, she let her eyes fall closed for added effect. When she felt his grip on her wrist slacken from his shock, she quickly let go of her kunai and tapped the scroll strapped her hip, a chain appeared in her hand and she deftly secured it around his body. Tenten stepped away from him, ignoring the small part of her that wanted to continue the liplock with the dark haired man. She felt herself swell with a small sense of pride at having accomplished what so many before her had failed to do - capture the allusive Uchiha heir.

Sasuke had to admit it - he was impressed. The girl (no woman, he told himself, giving her a quick appreciative once over) had tricked him, even with his Sharingan activated. Quite well too. He sent some chakra to the chains binding him, but nothing happed.

"That won't work," Tenten spoke for the first time. "Those are the same chains Ibiki uses on his prisoners, only one person has been able to escape from them, but be my guest and try."

Sasuke shrugged and started walking when she gave him a light nudge forward, she had a hand on the chains at his back, walking half a step behind him. He was secretly glad that she didn't seem to be one of those people who liked to drag around their captives like they were animals on leashes. They were quiet for a long while on their trek toward Konoha.

"Who was the person to have escaped from these chains?"

"Why do you want to know?" She queried, glancing his way briefly.

"Just curious," he replied with a shrug.

"Me," she said indifferently, like it was nothing.

He glanced at her with slight incredulitity, "How?" He found himself asking her.

She gave him a look that told him that he was an idiot to think she'd tell him that. She seemed to think it over and he watched her face the whole time, her eyes didn't appear to be as cold as they had been when he took her mask off earlier. Then she smirked at him. He felt a little taken aback at how her features subtly shifted to accomadate the small quirking of her lips.

"Shinobi rely far too much on their ability to use chakra and often overlook simple outcomes of using other practical means, especially Shinobi with bloodline limits such as yours, Uchiha."

Sasuke thought it over for a minute. What she said was true, Shinobi relied on their ability to use their chakra heavily, even he did when he tried to escape the chains, it was reflex to use his chakra to try to break them. So what had she meant? He thought more about it before landing on what seemed to be a far too simple of a conclusion.

"You . . . picked the lock," his statement almost came out as a question.

"Very good, Uchiha. You do have some brains in that head of yours," she jested lightly.

"Hn," he grunted back. "Whatever, Anbu."

"Tch, I have a name and I know you know it."

"You used my last name and since you don't have one, rank is wh-"

"Momochi," she stated, interupting him.

"What?" He asked in clear confusion.

"My last name is Momochi. Zabuza was my father."

"Zabuza . . ." Sasuke murmured to himself.

"You fought him when you were a Genin. Kakashi-senpai killed him."

Sasuke remembered that fight now. He had fought Haku with Naruto and that was the first time he had experienced the nine-tailed demon that resided within his former teammate. He then thought about Zabuza, remembering how he looked and how he fought.

"You look like him," Sasuke stated simply.

"Thank you," she said softly.

He wanted to point out that her innate talent for weaponry must have come from the ex-Mist Nin, but he decided otherwise when he saw the peaceful look on her face. When people found out who she was related to, they probably all brought it up. Zabuza was a remarkable swordsman and so was his daughter. They continued to walk on in silence, Sasuke knew they would be upon Konoha soon, it would be dark by the time they reached its walls though.

Tenten slipped her mask back over her face as the village gates came into view. He heard a soft sigh escape her before she slipped back into full-business mode. She didn't head to the gates entrance like he originally thought, but jumped up to the top of the wall, dragging him with her. He would deny that the soft 'oof' that escaped him when his chains tugged him up ever happened. They continued across the rooftops, she kept pace with him and held him steady since he didn't have the use of his arms. He brielfy wondered if she was this considerate to everyone she brought in, or if he was special. He smirked slightly at the thought.

They slipped silently into the darkened Hokage tower, the only light on being the one in Tsunade's office. The Godaime was bent over a file when they entered her office, when she looked up her initial look of irritation quickly transformed into one of blatant surprise.

"You . . . You got him . . ." She said, still processing the situation before her.

Tenten simply gave a quick nod.

"I'm impressed, you really have surpassed the others," Tsunade said appraisingly.

"Heh, Momochi only got me because I let her," Sasuke interjected cockily.

He felt Tenten's grip on the chains tighten and, as if in response, the chains coiled even tighter around his body. He winced as breathing became difficult. He raised his hands as far as he could in surrender and he felt the chains loosen to their original state. Tsunade watched the whole exchange with a critical eye.

"Sasuke," Tsunade said, catching his attention again. "With your revenge on your brother enacted, what is your plan now?"

Sasuke shrugged, "I don't know. Avenging my family encompassed so much of what if did, I never thought of what to do afterward, if I would even survive my revenge."

"What about Orochimaru?"

"What about him? I have no use for him now that Itachi is dead. I have no loyalties to him, I just wanted to get stronger."

"I see. How would you feel about intergrating back into the Leaf Village?"

"Tsunade . . ." Tenten said softly, Sasuke couldn't tell if she approved or not.

The Hokage ignored her, "It's either that or prison."

"I would like to return to my estate."

Tsunade nodded and motioned to the chains that bound him. Tenten removed them silently. Sasuke stretched his arms slightly.

"There are some conditions to your return."

"Hn."

"You will be on probation indefinitely. Your probationary officer will be Tenten, since she could handle apprehending you once, I'm sure she can handle it again if it comes down to it. You'll have to wear these bracelets, they'll safely link you two using a chakra strand so that you can't be more than 100 yards away from each other. It's inconvenient, but it'll prevent you from being able to sneak off."

Tsunade walked around her desk and clamped one of the black bracelets on Tenten's right wrist and the other on Sasuke's. He heard the Kunoichi beside him sigh softly again.

"What about my Anbu duties?" She asked Tsunade.

"We'll assign this as a mission with an undetermined length. I'm sure keeping an eye on him will keep you busy enough. Plus, this is the closest thing to a break you'll have since you joined the Ops and you have to accept because this is an actual mission."

Tenten sighed again, "Yes, Tsunade-sama."

After they left the Hokage Tower, they made their way staight to the Uchiha Compound. Tenten had some necessities sealed away in a scroll with her, but she decided that she would need to stop by her apartment tomorrow to pick up some more since she didn't know how long she woud be staying with Sasuke. When they reached the compound, Sasuke stopped and stared. He had been expecting the place to look rundown and decrepit since no one had lived here to keep it tidy since the night that Itachi slaughtered their whole clan.

"After . . . After what happened that night and you taking off on your quest for revenge, some of the villagers took it upon themselves to keep up the grounds. A lot of people adored the Uchiha's and were grief-stricken after the incident and your departure. So, they figured the best way that they could honor their name was to keep the compound as it was in all its glory until you returned," she spoke quietly and Sasuke stared at her. "I even helped when I could on my few days off from training, none of the other Shinobi helped, they were either busy dealing with the aftermath or resented losing so many valuable members of our village. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to help. As a child in the orphanage all I had ever dreamed about was discovering my family and who I truly was, so it was difficult for me to even grasp the concept of having a large family like yours and then losing them in the span of a night. I hope you aren't upset that we entered your property without your permission," she made eye contact with him.

He just stared into her eyes for several long seconds before saying, "No, I'm not mad."

She graced him with a small, sad smile. "We've been awaiting your return."

They began walking once more, headed for Sasuke's old family home. They walked shoulder to shoulder, Tenten knew her way around from having spent many long days here.

"Why?" He finally asked as they reached his house.

"Because even though you left the village, you didn't truly leave us. You had a different duty that you needed to do, one that would settle the storm in your heart. Though, I believe you went about it in the wrong way, you still deserve the chance to come back and prove yourself."

They stared at each other for awhile before Tenten turned and started walking to the guest bedroom on the other side of his old room, Sasuke let the bracelet tug him along until he reached his room.

"Goodnight," she bid quietly, while opening the door.

Tenten pretended to not hear his softly spoken 'thank you' as she slid the door closed. She was sure that he had not meant for her to hear it, but she smiled when he couldn't see her, nonetheless.

The next morning both Shinobi rose early from habit. Tenten quickly dressed, forgoing her Anbu armour, in just the tank top, pants, and gloves. She wrapped bangages around her shoulders to hide the tattoo that classified what she did. Sasuke made a small change to his wardrobe as well, taking away the purple rope that identified him with Orochimaru and replacing it with a black sash that he had forgotten that he owned. They stepped out of their rooms at almost the same time, the bracelets making them more aware of where each other was. Tenten handed him a granola bar from her supply scroll as a means of breakfast, he nodded his thanks and they finished the bars before reaching the gate.

Tenten led the way to her apartment and Sasuke would find himself staring at her hair as she walked. There weren't many villagers out yet, they gave the pair strange looks, but smiled and waved at the bubbly brunette Kunoichi as she did the same. Sasuke couldn't help but stare at her face as well, she was acting so differently than she had the day before. He was tempted to ask her about it. But decided to wait on his inquiry as they arrived at her apartment complex.

Her apartment was small and unimpressive, the walls were bare and the few decorations were sparce. He was pretty sure that the guest bathroom at his house was more decorated than the whole of her apartment.

"Make yourself at home. I'll be quick with my packing. There should be some food in the fridge if you're still hungry," she said as she disappeared into what he assumed to be her bedroom.

Sasuke walked into the kitchen, just as bare as the living room, and felt a small tug from his bracelet. He quickly swiped an apple from the counter and went back to the living room to wait. He had just finished the apple when she reappeared, adjusting the swords at her hip after slipping a scroll into her pocket.

They hadn't been walking long, no actual destination in mind as Tenten filled him in about what has happened while he was gone, when they heard a shrill voice. Tenten sighed before turning in the direction of the sound. Sasuke stood at her side, slightly apprehensive of what was going to happen.

"Sa-Sasuke?! Is that you?!" A pink haired girl came running and stopped in front of the two.

"Sakura, don't give yourself a coronary. Not that big of a deal," Tenten teased.

Sasuke felt the corner of his lip twitch at the older girl's words, but it quickly disappeared when his former teammate gave an exaggerated gasp and glared at the brunette.

"Of course it's a big deal! I've been waiting for you to come back to me, Sasuke, since you left," the Medic Nin latched herself onto Sasuke's arm.

Tenten snorted and Sakura sent her another glare.

"What are YOU doing with him anyway? It's not like you two were friends before he left or anything," she sneered at Tenten.

"Just helping him out," Tenten replied vaguely.

"Hmph. Well, I'm here now, so you can run along and do whatever it is you do."

Assassinate annoying brats like you while they sleep? Yeah, I'll get right on that, Tenten thought to herself sarcastically, though her face revealed nothing of what was going through her mind.

As Tenten was thinking to herself, Sakura started to pulling Sasuke away with her inhuman strength, she only just realized he was gone when she felt a strong pull from her bracelet.

"Shit. Sakura!" Tenten after her, the pinkette pretended not to hear her, but Sasuke was staring at her in half amusement and half helplessness.

Sakura kept pulling Sasuke away until she couldn't any longer. She turned back when his hand disappeared and watched him and Tenten collide.

"Shit," Tenten repeated when her feet started dragging on the ground towards Sasuke.

Sasuke could only stare at the brown eyed Kunoichi in bewilderment until they collided. He landed on top of her, the momentum of his superior weight threw her back and him forward as they met. He heard her sigh again and felt her breath ghost across his cheek and ear.

"Can you get off me now?" She asked quietly.

Sasuke quickly jumped up and helped Tenten stand as well, making some grunting noise that she took as an apology. Just as Sakura arrived.

"What the HELL was that?!" She screamed, glaring accusingly at Tenten like it was all her doing.

"He's on probation, I'm assigned to keep an eye on him. I'm sure you know the drill with the bracelets," Tenten stated, growing tired of Sakura quickly.

Sakura's eyes grew wide, then they traveled to Sasuke's wrist then Tenten's. Her face turned red in anger.

"Why are you assigned to him?! You barely even know him!"

"Ask Tsunade-sama," Tenten replied bluntly.

"I will! Don't worry, Sasuke-kun, I'll get this worked out!" She yelled then took off toward the Hokage Tower.

"I hope not," Sasuke muttered.

Tenten chuckled, then turned to tell a concerned citizen that they were alright and to apologize for the noise disturbance. They turned and continued on their way. They walked in pleasant silence, neither feeling the need to fill it, especially after their run-in with Sakura. The pair found themselves in one of the training fields, the grass was green and untouched and it was encircled on three sides by trees, and there in the middle of the field lay one Shikamaru Nara.

"Yo, Shika-san," Tenten greeted kindly.

Shikamaru raised a hand slightly in greeting, though he didn't open his eyes as she spoke. Sasuke found himself a little irritated at the lazy boys lack of respect for the Kunoichi, but she didn't seem to mind as she plopped herself down near him and laid on her stomach. The Uchiha sat down next to her and watched as her thin fingers wove into the grass in front of her.

"So," they both looked at the Nara heir as he finally spoke. "The rumors are true. The long lost Uchiha Prodigy is back."

Tenten nodded even though he wasn't looking at her, "Yes. Didn't take long for those rumors to spread though."

"You brought him back."

Tenten opened her mouth to reply, but wasn't able to get any words out.

"Of course she was the one to bring him back."

She beamed up at the new arrival, "Kakashi-senpai!"

"There's nothing my little Tenny-kohai can't do," Kakashi said, squatting down in front of her and placing a hand on her head.

"What do you mean 'my little Tenny-kohai'?" Came another voice, who proceeded to push Kakashi over with his foot.

"You're here too, Genma-senpai?"

Tenten was ignored as the two Jounin started squabbling. Sasuke stared at them and wasn't sure what to think, his confusion growing stronger by the minute. But then the noise stopped suddenly as they all sensed another presence enter the field. It was quickly followed by a loud yell.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled from across the field, running up to them. "You're really back! I could barely believe it when I heard, but here you are!"

"There's no need to yell, Idiot," Sasuke told him calmly.

"When did you get back? Did someone go get you? Or did you finally decide to come back home?"

"Hn."

"Naruto-san, please don't pressure him, he just got back and it's been a bit overwhelming for him and everyone," Tenten said gently, pacifying the hyperactive Nin.

"Oh! Tenten-chan, you're here too! Hee-hee, I guess you're right," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head.

Everyone looked at Tenten in mild surprise as she softly defended the young Uchiha, especially Sasuke. He hadn't asked her to defend him or expect Naruto to be so easily appeased about the situation. He could tell that she was genuinely concerned for his wellbeing and not just concerned about her position as an Anbu member potentially being compromised. Sasuke noticed that her rank was kept secret from their peers, it seemed that the Jounin were aware of it. Which he thought was reasonable, thinking about their conversation from before Sakura's interruption. She was explaining how after the fourth war she had went to several Shinobi asking them to train her, Ibiki, Anko, Genma, and Kakashi to name a few, she had also recieved some medical training from Shizune. Her determination to grow stronger was impressive and Sasuke could feel his respect in her increase immensely.

"Say, Uchiha-kun, how about we go get some groceries for your house? I'll make dinner tonight," Tenten said, looking at the raven haired boy.

"You can cook too?" He asked in return.

"Pretty damn well," came Shikamaru's lazy drawl.

The others in the clearing all nodded and muttered their agreement. Tenten blushed and chuckled. Sasuke wondered briefly if he could make her blush like that, but quickly shook the thought away and stood up. He offered her his hand and pulled her up. Her hand stayed in his for several seconds longer than necessary as he silently marveled at how such small and dainty appendages could be so lethal. Sasuke dropped her hand when he thought he heard a low growl escape from one of the Jounin behind him, but no one else seemed to notice.

Tenten could feel her heart start to race when Sasuke kept her hand in his longer than he needed to and she had to fight down the disappointment she felt when he let it go. Then a strong pair of arms pulled her into a hug and a softly whispered, Be careful, told her it was Genma. She nodded subtly, though she wanted to argue that she would be fine, and quickly returned the hug. Next a large hand was placed on top of her head and she smiled warmly at Kakashi. Tenten bent down and patted Shikamaru's chest a couple times, he grunted, but the small quirking up of his lips told her he didn't mind.

Sasuke realized something with a start. She may have finally found out who her father was, but this was her family. Instead of feeling the need for revenge after finding out what had happened to her father, she took a different approach and built up her own family from the people around her that cared about her. He was slightly envious of her ability to do so and how it allowed her to gain strength in a different way than he had. Kakashi and Genma were obviously the overportective older brothers, Shikamaru was another brother, on the same plane as her, and as he watched her ruffle Naruto's hair affectionately, his former teammate was a younger brother that she seemed to adore.

"Ne, Uchiha-kun, let's go," she said, looking at him.

Sasuke nodded and they proceeded towards the market.