Summary:
I wanted to use an underdeveloped character this time and I thought Tenten was perfect. I paired her with Shisui, who I thought was enough of an independent thinker to keep up with Tenten.
The rest of the story is about what would have happened if Minato went back and found Obito's body? No Akatsuki, no fourth shinobi war, no infinite tsukuyomi. He likely would have lived through the nine tails attack years later. And unlike Hiruzen Sarutobi, the fourth hokage would not allow the massacre of the Uchiha clan. He stands against Danzo and allows Shisui to use his kotoamatsukami.
However, peace is not the alternative. The Uchiha clan continues to get stronger and eventually starts the internal conflict that splits Konohagakure. Tenten (who apparently has no last name?... I can't find one at least) and Shisui Uchiha meet during a tenuous time of peace. But Tenten is leaf and Shisui is Uchiha –so how will they be together?
Disclaimer: I own nothing. But I like writing stories about Masashi Kishimoto's characters.
The story:
Tenten walked, one foot in front of the other foot, across the beam. It was actually a fallen tree trunk, which had managed to hit the other side of the ravine at just the right angle, effectively creating a bridge. But the twelve-inch diameter of the trunk made it just enough of a challenge for Tenten that when she found the tree, she immediately marked this spot as her special place. She came here as often as she was able, in order to walk one foot in front of the other foot for thirty yards across the 100 foot drop of the ravine.
She never wandered any further on the other side of the ravine. It was known Uchiha territory, and though Tenten was fully confident in her skills with fuinjutsu and bukijutsu, she also knew she was no match for the average Uchiha and their sharingan in a head to head fight. She learned early on, part of being a good shinobi was knowing your weakness as well as your strengths.
But being so close to enemy territory was part of the thrill. Tenten needed the rush that came from that adrenaline. She had felt completely numb since Neji's death two years ago during the Konhogakure civil war. This was the only place that made her feel something… anything.
The village had been in a complete disarray since the war ended. Half of the clans were wiped out, and the rest were disbanded. Most of the non-shinobi citizens fled to towns in the outskirts of the Land of Fire.
Lord third had died in the war, killed at the hand of Fugaku Uchiha. Left to rule alone, Lord fourth, who did not have the cold and calculating mind that the job required, was unable to keep Danzo Shimura's ambitions at bay for very long. Konohagakure essentially became a full blown military state run solely by the centralized government. And anyone who knew anything knew the true dictator was Danzo Shimura.
No one was allowed in or out of the village without an official pass, so Tenten was lucky to be able to sneak over the wall to come to her special place a couple of times during the week. The village wall was now sealed and set with traps, most of which would kill you if you fell into them. But six months ago, Tenten discovered the unnoticed one gap that sat beyond the memorial garden.
One day while she visited Neji with Hinata, Hinata mentioned that there was a gap that Danzo had missed when he ordered traps placed around the wall. Only those with the byakugon could see it.
Tenten pretended not to be interested in this news, but later, she went back to the place where Hinata pointed. She was probably the only leaf ninja daring enough –or maybe stupid enough (according to many of her comrades) to tempt fate and try the gap. To see if she could actually make it over the wall without falling into some terrible genjutsu.
But Tenten decided that she carried a death wish. Neji's death had left a huge hole in her life, in her heart, in her entire being, that she could not seem to fill back up. She could not remember a time before they were friends. He was her family –along with Guy and Lee, though she could only take them in bits and pieces. And so many of her other friends had disappeared with their disbanded clans after the civil war, the hole just seemed to get larger and larger as time passed along. Since she had no clan and her parents died during the nine tails attack nineteen years ago, she had no one else. Tenten felt very much alone now, and at times, she was not certain if she wanted to live much longer.
Making it to the other side of the ravine, Tenten forced herself to stand there for a minute. Though she knew it was silly to think that the Uchiha clan would just pop out of the woods as soon as she set foot on their land, she still felt her heart beating hard inside of her chest. "Ooooh! That felt good."
As she turned to go back, she heard a rustling in the trees to her right. And then a shiruken whizzed by her head, slamming into the ground nearby. Shocked, Tenten backed up and lost her balance over the trunk. She fell on her butt on the ground next to the weapon. "Damn it!"
She grabbed for a scroll from her pouch. But before she could unwrap it to summon her weapons, a ninja landed on her stomach pinning her down with his knees. "Wooosssh!" He knocked the air out of her.
Two large red sharingan eyes stared down at her. He demanded, "What are you doing on Uchiha land?!"
She heard several voices call, "Spy! Leaf Spy!" from the branches of the trees.
'Shit!' She thought. She definitely had a death wish, and it was just about to be granted. She pulled a hidden kunai from up her left sleeve and slid it into her left hand. She used the weapon to stab up at the Uchiha on top of her. He was quick. He moved back before she made contact. But free from his hold, she was able to get up into a fight stance.
Then she heard a loud buzzing sound. It was an ominous sound, and it was coming right at her. She looked around to see a huge swarm of hornets coming at her.
"AAAAAH!" She screamed, waving her hands over her head as the insects came down at her, stinging her. She felt nothing but pain course through her entire body. Dazed by the attack and the searing pain, she stepped back again. Then she felt nothing but air, and she was free falling off of the side of the ravine.
'I'm about to die.' Tenten thought to herself calmly. She waited to hit the bottom. But instead she felt herself caught by a pair of arms… in mid air. And then she was in the river water. But there was no splash… she was just suddenly in the river. And then she was no longer in the river but on the bank.
The pain was still blinding her and she could not tell who had her. But she felt her rescuer lay her down on the bank. Seconds later she felt herself being lifted again and moved. Based on the sound of the wind whipping by them, they were moving very fast. Then Tenten passed out completely.
She awoke again several hours later. Hot and delirious with fever. In her delirium, she could make out a fire and its warm red sparks. She felt some one nearby her. Right next to her. Wrapped around her. Then the chill set in and her whole body shook. Her rescuer wrapped around her tighter. She leaned into the warm body and passed out again.
The next time she woke up it was morning. Her fever had broken and her rescuer was gone. She sat up to find herself covered in leaves inside a small cave. Her clothes were neatly folded next to her with her pouch, and the place where the fire had been, was now nothing but ashes. The only traces of her rescuer were the bit of bread and cheese and the cup of water that he or she had left near her clothes. She grabbed the water and sucked it down. She had never been so thirsty in her life.
She looked down at herself. She was in her underwear. Her stomach and her breasts were bond with bandages stained with dried blood. Carefully lifting the badges, she noted that she had stab wounds over almost ever part of her body. But she had been healed and bandaged with care. Then she remembered the ambush. The swarm of hornets –a genjutsu that the Uchiha ninja must have put her in as the rest of his brethren took her down with weapons.
Despite the supposed peace treaty, relations between the Uchiha clan and Konoha still remained hostile, but she had not realized it had gotten bad enough that they would actually kill her for just stepping over the border onto their land. She thought at most they would scare her off. Based on her relief that there was someone around to save her, she guessed that she never really did have an actual death wish.
With difficulty she put her clothes back on and ate the food left for her. Slowly she got up and limped out into the sun. She was never going to make it back like this. She felt too weak still, and she was already getting light headed. Maybe she could summon Ookami to carry her back. She reached in her pouch and then felt her head spin. Her legs gave way.
Before she hit the ground, she felt herself caught again by two arms. Dizzy, she looked up into the face of a young man. He had pale skin, black eyes, and short cropped black hair. His headband had the Uchiha embolim on the forehead protector.
A scream rang in Tenten's head, as she was too weak to actually scream. She was caught again. Were they back to finish the job? Tenten weakly tried to get away for the young man, but he held her tighter, picking her up and off her feet.
Despite her ineffective attempts to struggle against him, the young man carried her back to the cave and lay her back down on the bed of leaves. He looked down at her and stoically said, "you aren't strong enough to make it back to your village yet. I just left to get some medicine and some food. When you are strong enough, I will take you there myself."