Her Past

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. My sole purpose for this story is to show that Tenten has a history! :D

I own the plot itself and the Chinese characters I created. :D

Read and Review please! I love flames! Give your best criticism! :D

I'm in for NejiTen once again! The Nejiten lover is back on track this time!

I.

"Hiashi-sama, I accept your offer for helping out on my family history." Tenten bowed down before the main member of the Hyuuga clan. Beside him was Neji and the other side was Hinata.

'Whatisshedoinghere?Shecan'tjustbargein.' Neji thought, 'andwhataretheytalkingabout?DoesHinata-samahavesomethingtodowiththisaswell?'

Hiashi smiled gently, "Ah, you're just like your mother, barging in whenever she wants."

The weapon's mistress sweatdropped. "Well thank you." She said, "Though, I apologize for barging in. Am I disturbing something?"

"Oh, not at all. We were just sitting out, drinking tea. Care to join? Or would you want to start packing out your stuff?"

"I think it would be best to pack my stuff out first, Hiashi-sama." Tenten replied, glancing at her bags, "I would like start researching on my family right away."

Hiashi nodded in agreement, "I understand." He said, "Neji, why don't you bring her to one of the guest rooms?"

"Of course, Hiashi-sama." Neji obeyed so and stood up. He gestured Tenten to come and she followed, bringing her bags.

As the dark corridors came to view, everything was silent. It was tense, and the only sound was from their feet. Nothing more. Nothing less.

'SomethingtellsmeNeji'ssuspiciousofmebeinghere.' Tenten thought, 'Ihopehedoesn'tgetmad.' She kept her eyes forward, and not at the Hyuuga beside her.

"Tenten, what was that about?" Neji asked as they turned to the right, "You never told me anything about this."

The weapon's expert smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, Neji. I couldn't tell you that time. I couldn't tell you because you're not exactly involved in this."

"…" Neji silently agreed with her.

"But when did he ask you?"

"Around five months ago." She replied, "I was at home. He suddenly passed by and asked. Nothing really happened. He just asked." He stared at her figure.

He knew that she didn't have a surname. He knew that she lived alone, and was very surprised by the thousand weapons she owns ever since they were first teammates. But it was clearly suspicious that Hiashi would want to help on unlocking her mysterious family history. First of all, why would he want to help Tenten, who was just a normal girl and a teammate of Neji's? Second, he doesn't even know much about her. And lastly, it would be impossible to find any whereabouts of her parents because of the fact that Tenten doesn't have a surname. Could it be that her family history had something to do with the Hyuuga clan? Does it have a connection with the Byakugan? If so, could Tenten be a Hyuuga?

No, Tenten isn't a Hyuuga. It's clear that she doesn't have silver grey eyes like his. She's not exactly familiar with his fighting style either. So, the only question to answer is the first.

"This is it." Neji began as they both stood in front of the plain white door.

"Thanks, Neji. I can take it from here." Tenten replied. Her teammate nodded and walked away.

'I'mgoingtogetstarted….WhatweaponshouldIshinefirst?' Tenten asked herself as she turned the door knob clockwise. It revealed a plain boring guestroom, containing a bed and a table. Nothing more. Nothing less.

There was a sudden footstep beside the table. Immediately, the kunoichi took out a kunai and threw it at the direction where the footstep came from. Then, there was silence.

Her eyebrows creased, hoping to hear another sound of the intruder, but there was nothing.

"Show yourself, you coward!" she shouted. There was no reply. Tenten closed her eyes and dismissed the matter, but as she opened them, her enemy appeared before her. Well, not an enemy…

"Hanabi…?"

"Wow, you really are getting paranoid, Ten. Chill." The younger Hyuuga said, "Anyways, dad told me to keep you company, so, I'm going to stay with you the whole day or if Hiashi says so."

"Why does he want you to do that?" Tenten asked with uncertainty.

"I don't know. Dad won't tell us, unless it is the right time." She grunted. The weapons mistress nodded in understanding and took out her empty scrolls to begin with the transportation technique.

"What are you doing?" the little Hyuuga asked.

"Putting all the weapons I need in a scroll." The weapons mistress sat down and took out her outstanding weapons. They were all sorts of them… various kinds. Hanabi wondered how someone like Tenten could possess such weapons as those that were on the floor.

"Where did you get those…?" Hanabi asked.

"I got them from a sensei of mine." Tenten replied, "She gave it to me as a gift."

"What's the name of your sensei?"

"Her name is Ayashi-sensei. She used to take care of me until I was nine years old. She doesn't visit me often but she does send me various types of weapons.

"…oh…" she watched as Tenten placed every weapon in the scroll in amazement.

"You're really good…"

"Thanks." Tenten said with a smiled.

"Is this what you do during your spare time?"

"Yeah, sometimes. Other times, I study on how to use each weapon."

"What's that?" Hanabi asked as she pointed at a random wood weapon.

"That's a tonfa."

"And that one?"

"Oh, that's a tessen, although, it's upgraded. It's something that sensei created. It's actually a new style, not like the usual fan."

"Oh. Do you wear it during missions?"

"Rarely, but yes."

"And what about this one?"

"That's an oppblade." (A/N:IcreatedthatXD)

"Can I touch it?"

"Sure you can."

The weapon's mistress smiled in delight as the little girl placed her little finger on the smooth blade; her pearl white eyes were in awe at the fine art. She has never seen this weapon before. The Hyuuga clan does have their weapons, but not as rare as the one lying in front of her.

"Where does Ayashi-sensei live?"

"I don't know… she never visits often. She never brings me to where she lives…"

"I wish to see her. This is something I never get to see… and plus, people never let me out."

"Why?"

"They still think I'm some helpless little kid…"

Tenten giggled, "Well, when you're with me, you can go out anytime! Just as long as you promise you won't get lost!"

"I won't get lost! I never get lost! I have the Byakugan with me, so there won't be a problem." Hanabi argued.

The weapon's mistress laughed.

They have been talking a lot of things. Tenten didn't know that it would be this fun being with the little Hyuuga. She also realized that Hanabi was known for a lot of mischief. There was a time when she snuck in Neji's bathroom and tampered with his shampoo with honey, neem tree liquid and a chocolate drink. He never found out until he used it and blamed Hanabi even if there wasn't much evidence (though, some maids caught her sneaking into his room).

There was another time when she messed up his writing scrolls, adding some small doodles and those nonsense words that she came up from her classmates. Immediately, Neji would blame Hanabi because there was a familiar object that was drawn on his 10th writing scroll.

Tenten smiled, "How much have you been tampering Neji's things?"

The little Hyuuga smirked mischievously. "It's a lot more than you can imagine! He just needs to loosen up, that's all."

"It's not about me loosening up. It's about you who just needs to be tamed." A deep and clam voice echoed in the room.

"Oh, hey Neji. What's up?" Tenten greeted him.

"There's a visitor for you, Tenten." He replied.

"Wow, is that how you greet a girl Neji? What a pity." His cousin teased.

"Hn, as if you're any good with any guy." He countered.

"Ha! Yeah, right. I'm actually better than you, Mr. Anti-Social."

"Hn, wild animal…" and before you know it they were both silent.

Tenten's eyebrows creased in curiosity as she walked out of the guest room, with Neji and Hanabi following behind.

After walking out of the dark corridor, a kunai lunched straight at Tenten. The weapon's mistress caught it like it was nothing and twirled it.

"I thought you wouldn't be visiting today, Ayashi-sensei." She said.

"Is that how you greet your teacher?" the middle-aged woman asked, as her amber eyes bore through Tenten's brown ones, "But no, I wasn't supposed to be visiting you today."

"Because?"

"I brought gossip!" Ayashi squealed in delight. Tenten rolled her eyes at her own teacher who has trained her to become the best Weapon's mistress in Konoha. She failed to mention that her own sensei had the most gossips in town. She has been watching from the sidelines. She is a very keen observer and can detect a slight difference in the environment without even using dojutsu.

"Maybe another time, sensei…"

"Ahhahaha! I was joking! There's something I have to tell you though…" she muttered the last part, but Tenten heard well. Behind them were Hiashi and Neji, who were wandering what the two were talking about.

"Neji, I have a very special task for you." The main member of the Hyuuga clan began as his nephew's eyes looked up at him.

"It's not a very hard one. It's quite easy, actually." He continued, "All you have to do is spend your time with Tenten. Don't do your training with her. I've heard she is your sparring partner, but stay with her, and talk to her like friends do. You can bring her out, if she wants to."

"…" Neji blankly stared at his uncle, puzzled at his given task.

"Why me? Why not Hinata-sama?"

"Well, you're very close to her, Neji. I'm positively sure that she'll appreciate your company.

"Hn." He grunted, "Alright then."

"Start the task right after they talk something serious." He told his nephew and gave a bright smile.

The prodigy nodded as his eyes trained unto the teacher and the student.

To Tenten's side… :D

"Tenten, do you remember when I took care of you when you were younger?"

"Yes."

"And when I brought you away from that cruel orphanage?"

"Yes."

"…well, that wasn't all…"

"…" the weapon's mistress stared at her teacher's hesitation but silently waited for her to explain.

"Your clan was in danger." She began, looking straight at Tenten's widened eyes, "During that time, the Chao clan was very famous for their weaponry and art. Your mother, Tu Chao (1), was a famous Tessenjutsu expert. Your father, Xing-fu Chao (2), was famous for being a blacksmith. Both were equally good at every weapon they had encountered, but they were each famous at their specific talents.

"Both were not exactly the perfect couple. At time when each had a wrong turn during their missions, they bicker and scold each other. Mostly, it was Xing-fu who bickered, because he was a perfectionist while Tu… Tu was a delinquent.

"And so, after 5 years of pestering her, Xing-fu asked Tu's hand in marriage. It wasn't a decent proposal either, because they kept on bickering on how the wedding would look like, but they were happy. I was there when it happened, only that they didn't see me… during the wedding, everything was perfect. They had their vows, the two had their French Kiss, and they had the best dance of their life. It was all perfect until a rogue of Dark Nins came and the wedding was ruined…"

"Tu, Xing-fu and I fled. The others… we don't know what happened to them….

That's when we came here.

"After months of travelling, we ended up at the gates of Konohagure, where we stayed for awhile….

In nine months after that, you were born… but the moment you were in my arms… the Dark Nins appeared before your parents once more. We were able to escape our home, but it wasn't enough…

So, Xing-fu told me, with his wife in his arms, to leave and hide somewhere far away from our house while he and Tu will make their escape… after I hid in a school with you, Xing-fu and Tu never came… they left without saying a proper good bye…

"So, after all that happened, I decided to take off your surname… for now. If the Dark Nins knew you were the daughter of Xing-fu and Tu Chao, they would come after you…" Ayashi sighed, "That's all I know, Tenten… their whereabouts are unknown…" Tenten's eyebrows furrowed in worry.

"So the Dark Nins…."

"…are still alive and are waiting…"

"So what happens now…?"

"I'll explain that to you some other time…" Ayashi sighed tiredly, "I have to go. My time's up. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure." Tenten smiled and watched Ayashi walking towards the gate. In moments, she was gone.

"Tenten." A deep familiar voice called behind her. She flinched a little and turned to see Neji.

"Yeah?"

"Is something the matter?"

"…no…"

"We should get going then."

"To where?"

"Anywhere you like."

To be continued…

Tu means soil or earth

Xing-fu means Joyful and happiness

Read and review please! I appreciate flames! :D