I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO SAY THIS...I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR THE CHARACTERS AND I AM NOT PROFITING FROM THIS OR ANY STORY OF MINE!
A good friend of mine wanted a Naruto x Tenten story so here it is.
CHAPTER 1: EYES OPEN
It's a sunny day in Konoha and behind the counter of a small weapon shop sat a very depressed Tenten. Yukari, Tenten's mother, walked out of the back storage room to see her daughter sulking. "Ten-chan, everything will be alright. You are 20 years old, that still makes you young enough to find another man." Almost on cue a blonde haired young man walked into the store. He wore a short-sleeved long red haori with black flames on the bottom, black ANBU pants, dark blue long sleeve shirt under the haori, and a leaf village flak jacket over the shirt. Carrying in his hand was a rather large scroll with a strap signifying it could be worn. When he approached the counter they saw he had fair skin, 3 whisker like stripes on each cheek, and deep blue eyes. Over his eyes was a forehead protector that read "oil" with a black sash wrapping around his head. After approaching the counter the man laid the scroll on the counter off to the side and greeted the women. "Good afternoon ladies", he started but was interrupted by a moody Tenten. "Sorry pal, whatever you are selling, we are not buying" as she waved him off. Seeing he was misunderstood as a common salesman, he tried again after a small laugh. "No no I'm a ninja, I use to come in here as a kid to buy supplies. I was wondering if you still craft weapons?", he asked. With a smile Yukari replied, "of course, we still make weapons..what did you want made?" He reached into one of his kunai pouches on his backside and pulled out a item wrapped in a orange cloth. After he unraveled the cloth, he revealed a three-pronged kunai. "I need fifty of these made, is that possible?", the man asked. Tenten's mother's face lost its smile and now showed a serious look toward the "customer". "That weapon was made for the fourth Hokage, where did you get it?" The man looked at them and said, "It was given to me by my master..Jiraiya-sama." Total shock appeared on both faces, since they both have heard that Jiraiya died protecting a young Naruto four years ago.
Tenten studied the man in front of her. 'The hair, the marks, the skin...those eyes...where have I seen those features before?', thought the young weapon master. Then everything hit her like a ton of bricks as she jumped off her stool. "NARUTO!?", she shouted. Giving her a foxy grin he responded, "about time you remembered me Tenten." Yukari looked at his face while thinking, 'he looks just like his mother...with his father's hair.' "Oh Kami, Naruto...where have you been? After we heard about Jiraiya-sama, we thought that you died too", as a tear escaped her eye. Looking at her with a sad smile he responded, "No..I..lived..if you call that living. But to answer your first question, I was training all around the nations and now I'm back home." Looking back at Tenten's mom he continued business. "If possible could I have fifty of these made and", he unhooked the other kunai pouch on his backside and put it on the counter, "have this repaired?" He opened it and slowly pulled out a shattered Konoha chakra blade. Yukari nodded as she wrote down the order. "It should be ready in about three weeks", she stated with a smile. "Thank you Yukari-san, I knew you wouldn't let me down." Tenten's mother bowed, retrieved the items and walked to the workshop.
Naruto turned his gaze upon a gawking Tenten. "Well, Tenten after I talk to the Hokage, would you like to grab some lunch?", he asked. She looked at him with a questioning look, "let me guess...ramen?" He laughed at her answer but calmed down when she wasn't laughing. "No, Tenten...unless you want ramen. I asked you if you wanted to grab some lunch with me, meaning I'm paying and you are picking." Stunned by the response and the fact that he was technically asking her out, all she could do was nod. He clapped his hands together and grabbed his scroll, "excellent, I'll come back by here after my meeting." Just like that, he was gone while leaving her thinking.
A few moments later at the Hokage Tower, Lady Tsunade was behind her desk trying to finish her paperwork when a knock tapped on her door. Looking up she shouted, "ENTER!" The last person she was expecting was the blonde knucklehead that left with the toad sage five years ago. "Naruto?", she stood up, "Oh Kami, welcome back!" The hokage jumped her desk and hugged her "son" as a tears fell from her eyes. He gladly returned the hug the continued with his briefing, "baa-chan, It's good to see you." Breaking away from the hug, Tsunade gave hime the look over. "That old perverted fool would be proud of you, Naruto." After giving him a sign of approval she began, "well, you're a jonin now and that means you need to lead a genin team or form a team that works well with your abilities." Going back to her desk, she picked up a folder and handed it to him. "These are the following ninjas that are available to form a team." He looked it over then back at her before starting his question. "Baa-chan, what happened to team formations like when I was a kid?" Tsunade let out a sigh, "the third thought it would be a good idea that some of the teams all have similar abilities, such as Team eight: Hinata, Kiba, and Shino. All three are scouts but when it comes to head on assults only Shino can truely hold his ground. So in two days I am going to test you with everyone and see who is better with whom."
"Sounds good, I guess in the mean time I'll just train", he responded. Naruto gave his famous smile, "are we done baa-chan? I'm kinda hungry and I promised Tenten to take her to a place she wants to go." Looking at the young man with a hint of surprise, "yea you're dismissed Naruto." After the jonin left she thought, 'Tenten and Naruto? hmmm This will be good for her, if she doesn't let him get away' Looking out the window, 'Neji broke your heart but don't worry, Naruto will heal it...he's good at that.'
After forty-five minutes since he left, Naruto finally came back into the shop. He turned to see Yukari behind the counter with a smile. "Tenten should be coming down in minute." Sure enough Tenten appeared at the bottom of the staircase that lead to their apartment. She wore black ankle strap heels and a red cheongsam with gold trim and a gold dragon pattern going up the dress. Stunned by the young woman's beauty, Naruto just stood there with mouth gaping. Seeing the young man brought up memories on how her first day with her late husband went. Tenten's view of Naruto only made her blush. 'Neji never made me beautiiful...WHAT AM I SAYING!? THIS ISN'T A DATE!...is it?' Yukari looked at the two young people in her shop with a heart warming smile. "Ok you two, go on and have fun." Snapping Naruto out of his trance as he proceeded to hold the door for Tenten. The single mother watched the "couple" walk down the street, allowing a few tears to escape her eyes. 'Minato and Kushina, look at your boy..he has grown so much without anyone, maybe my Tenten can complete his life...maybe he can complete her's'
Naruto and Tenten walked for a few minutes side by side till she stopped in front of a fancy restaurant. He smiled and held the door for her. Not long after they entered the restaurant, they were greeted by the host. Looking at Naruto with a suspicious eye, he said, "sorry sir, this establishment is for civilized people...now please move along." The blonde didn't like snob, plus he promised to take Tenten to a restaurant of her choosing. He leaned up to the snob's ear and whispered something causing his eyes to shoot open. "I'm sorry for the confusion sir, right this way." Moments later they were led to a nice table. As Naruto held Tenten's chair for her, she asked him, "what did you say?" While he sat on the other side of the table, he responded, "simple, I told him I'm the new Toad Sage and he should show us to a table or I will rain toads in the kitchen." For the first time in two years, Tenten truely laughed. Shortly afterward the waiter came and they placed their orders. Tenten ordered the seafood special and Naruto ordered a steak dinner. When the waiter left Naruto asked Tenten what happened in the five years he was gone. She told him of several events but the one that almost stopped her heart, was the time Neji left her to fulfill an arranged marriage two years ago.
Hearing of Neji's actions almost sent Naruto over the edge, but he didn't want to ruin Tenten's night so he let it go. Throughout the dinner they talked and learned so much of each other. Tenten was in a graduation class one year prior to Naruto, but they learned they have some things in common. All Tenten was thinking about was how mature he became the years he was gone. "So Naruto, how was your training with Jiraiya?" The question hit home and she instantly regretted asking it after seeing his face. Naruto lifted his head and put his "mask" on but it wasn't fooling her. "It was great Tenten, I learned a lot..of course you will see in two day at the team assignments", he said with a wink. She blushed after seeing the wink. 'Eh? it's Naruto, not...who? Neji?..Neji has always been cold and calculating, great as a ninja, bad as a person' Listening to Naruto's tale of the time Jiraiya got caught peeping at a all male spa, made her laugh really hard. "Naruto! you shouldn't have switched the signs, I bet he was sleeping with the door locked a while after that."
Unknown to them but a certain blonde haired girl saw them. "Is that Tenten with...NARUTO!?", she asked Choji. He looked over and saw Tenten laughing and having a good time with a tall blonde. "I think it is, but look at Tenten..she's actually having fun, so let's not bother them." Ino looked at her boyfriend with a sly smile. "We're ninjas so we won't bother them if we just do what we trained to do correctly."
The bill arrived at the table and Tenten felt bad for Naruto and wanted to help, but he refused and paid it himself saying, "I promised you a dinner of your choosing." After paying the "couple started making the trek to her family's shop. Few minutes later they were at their destination. "Thank you for tonight Naruto, I haven't had that much fun in...", she locked her eyes with his, "forever." He smiled at her and said, "we should do it again soon, I like hanging out with you Tenten." Her heart lifted, 'he wants to have another...date?' "M-maybe we could go to that ramen stand you like so much, after the jonin team thing?", she asked nervously. Giving her a thumbs up he agreed. Before Naruto turned and started walking away, the unexpected happened. She kissed him on the cheek and winked before walking into her shop.
Not far away Ino and her boyfriend observed the action from on top a nearby building. "She kissed him, that is so romantic..he is like a knight rescuing a princess from solitude caused by the evil dragon, Neji." Choji sweat dropped, "just don't tell that to Neji...I don't want to get gentle fisted." Ino clasped her boyfriend's mouth, "shhhh he'll hear us." After a few minutes they looked back down to find out he disappeared. "What are you looking at?", said a voice behind the couple almost causing them to fall off the edge. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!? WE COULD'VE GOTTEN HURT!", yelled Ino. Naruto looked surprised at the blonde. "Why were you spying on us?" Blush spread across the couple's faces. "We were worried about Tenten...Neji left her two years ago and goes on like nothing bothering him." The Toad Sage looked at the stars, "at the jonin team assignment test, I'll be sure to beat some more sense into him." Looking back down at the confused couple. "See ya." With his final words, he vanished. Looking around Ino turned to Choji, "what the fuck?" Which he responded with a shrug.