SUN BIRD: The Legend of Tenten

by Uskius

After taking a leave of absence and discovering some things about herself, Tenten decides it's time to come back to Konoha. Home isn't what she finds there- a criminal named Taiyocho is on the loose, threatening to send the world into war once again. Expect lots of characters to show up: the Hyuga sisters, Kakashi, Shiho, and more. Direct sequel to Destroying Angel- read that 1st!

1. In Solitude, Where We Are Least Alone

SUN BIRD: The Legend of Tenten

There was a sharp knock on the door. Shizune looked up from the papers she was sorting at Tsunade's desk, and walked over to answer. She was surprised to see who greeted her.

"Hello, Miss Shizune." Hinata said, with a bow. "Is Lady Tsunade in?"

"No, she's out of the office right now. Come on in, Hinata." Shizune waved in Sakura and Naruto as well, and they followed her to Tsunade's desk. "So, it appears you're safe and sound. Did Santa make it back as well?"

"Yeah he was with Hinata when we found them, but I think he went to go look for Kakashi when we got back to the village," Naruto said. "I dunno where he's at right now."

Kakashi and not Lady Tsunade... I'm gonna have to remember that. "Did the Shimo ninja give you any trouble?"

"Nah, not at all! Didn't even see any of 'em!" Naruto said with a smile. He looked over to Hinata, who continued.

"They... were a bit rough moving me to a tent where I was held captive, but they didn't injure me. They left after the explosion..."

"Explosion?" Shizune asked, with raised eyebrows.

"It was a massive, rumbling roar off in the distance. I'm not sure what caused it, but one of the ninja guarding me said it was probably Taiyocho."

"Taiyocho... that's the name of the rogue ninja who was in the area?" Shizune asked as she leaned forwards in the chair. "Did you meet them?"

"Not while they were alive..." Hinata said, looking low and to the left.

"So they're dead?" Shizune asked with a hint of excitement.

"Very," Sakura said. "She had a hole punched through her chest I could've stuck my head into."

Shizune grimaced. "If you have the body, I'd like you to bring it by the morgue at the hospital. I want to run a thorough autopsy on it." Shizune sighed, and looked at Hinata for a moment. I think her gut feeling about Taiyocho being a ninja we know is right. Same handwriting on the notes... and Santa went to Kakashi first, which means he knows who the ninja is too and wants Kakashi's help eliminating them... "...Did you see who defeated Taiyocho?"

"The Raikage," Answered Hinata. "Santa and I weren't able to watch the battle from close up, but it was definitely him."

Shizune nodded, playing along. "I'll make sure to get all this to Tsunade. Anything else?"

"Santa and I met Tenten on the way there. She said to tell Tsunade that she lost the bet."

Naruto saw Shizune's jaw drop, and Hinata's small smile wasn't giving him any clues. "What bet? What is it?

c=={=======

The explosive tag triggered, blowing up the base of the tree it was attached to and causing it to collapse. Tenten smiled, the experiment was a success. After coming back to the Land of Fire she knew she would need to step up her training, and improve her ninjutsu and taijutsu even more. One of the first things to pop into her mind while she rested between exercises was exploding tags. Drawing a deep breath, Tenten got out another blank tag and her ink. Focus, and draw from the bones... guide the power into the seal... more- okay, there! The last stroke of the seal was done, and Tenten blew it dry. Looking over to her right, she saw the trunk of the fallen tree was thicker than she was tall, and part of a blast crater was visible beneath it. So using the bones of the earth works well. I was afraid it wouldn't react to the seal... Tenten walked over to the fallen tree, and placed the even stronger tag she'd just made under it. She wiggled from underneath it and dashed far away before stopping to look back. She made a half Ram seal, and activated the tag. There was a loud crack and boom, and Tenten was knocked off her feet backwards. Ears ringing, she shook her head clear and stood. You dope. Twice the power, more than twice the blast radius... The destruction left by the second tag had snapped the tree and left a blast crater devoid of any sign of plant life for dozens of yards around it. Get started on working out how to link that magnetic trigger... Tenten dusted off and headed back to her tent, getting a fire started to cook her food.

Am I ready to be back? Thought Tenten, as she set up the spit. I had all total maybe three days of quiet out there... Skinning and dressing the rabbit reminded Tenten of what she'd done to the young kunoichi from Kumo. Hopefully I did a good enough job faking my death everyone will be off my trail for a while... I know I can trust Hinata, but I'm not sure about Santa. He just kind of seemed to accept it instead of commiting to it... I think I need to be home. A place, or person, just- I want to feel safe right now... The rabbit was ready, and Tenten stuck it on the spit, sitting down and going over her new exploding seal, thinking of how Kawatatsu's seal had been put together. Linked in that way, yeah... that'd make it tougher to disarm, too... so let's get a look at how that goes. That's the trigger right there, and the other over here... Tenten drew the seals in the dirt, mind working at high speed. Then you change this here, leaving that bit of the seal open so it joins with the other... if one's removed or they're triggered, then bam! Alright... Tenten reached out to turn the spit when she heard a rustle and snapped twig behind her. "Who's there? Come out!"

From behind a nearby tree a young boy of eleven or maybe twelve peeked out, holding a bow in one arm, looking afraid for a split second and then doing his best to appear tough. "So you're a ninja?"

"Yeah."

"My dad says ninja are evil, that they're the cause of all the bad stuff happening."

"Ninja are also the reason the Five Great Nations stay safe," Tenten countered. "You can't blame everything on freaks like Orochimaru and Kabuto."

"Or this new one Tenten," The boy said, stepping closer. "My dad says she'll be the death of us all."

"I think your dad's wrong about her..." Tenten narrowed her gaze on the young boy, taking in his faded green tunic and grey shorts that were a little ragged around the edges. "What are you doing out here, anyways?"

"I was hunting food for supper when those big explosions scared the deer away." He gave a disapproving stare. "I bet you started 'em, didn't you? See? Ninja cause problems."

Tenten sighed. "What are you doing out here? And this time I mean why I are you and your father way out in the woods, at least twenty miles from the nearest village."

"Ninja," The boy answered, walking a little closer. "If you live in a village they'll be watching you, and in charge of everything. My dad says you'd have no freedom or privacy." The boy brushed his mousy brown hair out of his face, and continued staring.

"You know what?" Tenten took the spit off the fire, and stood to face the boy. "Let's take this to your dad. I have a couple things I'd like to say to him." The kid looked at her warily, not responding. "Do you want it or not? If you don't take it I'll eat it; I'm just as hungry as you are." After a few more moments the boy gave in, and he motioned for her to follow. He stayed silent on the walk through the forest, taking odd trips through the undergrowth off the game trails. After several minutes a real path showed up, and not far down it was a small cabin. The boy hung his head and opened the door.

"Back already Raiden?" Asked a man, who had his back turned to them as he sat at a table reading something. Tenten looked around the cabin: there were two beds against the wall to the right; in the far left corner was a stove, and a few steps away was the table the man sat at. He sounded reasonably young, and to Tenten he seemed to be fit and in good health. The man set down his papers and turned to welcome his son, and froze. A hard and bitter expression came over his face. His brown eyes darkened, and his jaw set diamond-hard. "Explain yourself."

Tenten didn't know whether this was directed to her or Raiden. "I scared off the deer your son was hunting, sir. I thought it would be appropriate to share the rabbit I'd caught with you."

The man's hostile glare continued, and without looking away from Tenten he spoke to his son. "Raiden, head out to the bath house and get started heating up the water. I would like to talk to this woman in private."

"Yes, father..." Raiden quietly left, and the tense silence weighed down on the cabin.

"Who sent you?" The man asked, his dark bangs reminding Tenten of his son.

"Nobody sent me, I'm off duty camping."

"I heard the explosions. What are you really doing out here."

"If you're wondering about the explosions I was testing a new seal on my exploding tags. Nothing more or less."

Raiden's father sighed. "So let's suppose you actually are off duty camping. That still doesn't explain testing the tags."

"...I'm not the most popular ninja out there, I'll say. I need to stay sharp." Raiden's father studied her face for an uncormfortable amount of time, and noticed Tenten's katana sheathed on her back.

"You're her." A simple accusation that carried several different levels of meaning. There was another long and uncomfortable silence before Raiden's father spoke again. "Kiri's in an uproar over what you did to the Mizukage. If you think you're escaping them or Kumo by coming back to Konoha, you're wrong- you're only endangering more lives by coming back here." The man turned back to the table and picked up one of his papers. "I still have a few informants I keep in touch with- and two of them have sent word a fleet from Kiri docked in the Land of Lightning. The Raikage was there to greet them, and some meeting took place..." He gave Tenten a knowing stare, silently indicating what that meeting was about.

So he's still alive... I should've finished both of them... "Who are you?"

"Daisuke Nohara. Nothing more or less."

"Well, Mr. Nohara, enjoy your dinner." Tenten slammed the spit into the floor, and left.

c=={=======

"This is the latest bit of analysis and best guess we've done on it." Shiho picked up the printout, the odd seal leading the page. "The circle still remains the most mysterious part, but in combination with it we theorized that the Kun trigram is meant to act as some sort of ninjutsu needle-"

"Like a compass?" Tsunade interjected.

"Yes, like a compass needle. Due to the receptive nature of the Kun trigram we suspect that this is some sort of tracking jutsu." Shiho let Tsunade absorb that before continuing. "Now, we weren't able to reach a concensus on which of two possible kinds of tracking jutsu it is: either it tracks the seal itself, or is used as part of a jutsu to orient yourself to a specific point when out in the wild."

"Since it was sent to us I'd assume it's the former," Said Tsunade.

"That's what I was thinking too," Shiho agreed. "But then we started running tests. With the addition of chakra sensitive ink and samples, the configuration team found that it in fact was possible to use it for finding a specific point."

Tsunade's eyebrows went up. The configuration team's job was to decipher and determine the hands seals necessary for encrypted jutsu handled by the Cyptanalysis Department, and not only was this their first completely new jutsu in several years but it was an extremely useful one, to boot. Shiho smoothed her hair and handed the test results over. Hmm... its resolution is faster when tracking metals... seven hand seals... "Make copies of this and send it to the Jonin Standby Station and the Academy, when you have the time." Tsunade folded her arms and looked down at Shiho's desk. "...As useful as that jutsu will be, I still think it's not the solution. If it needs a sample to be activated, then we'd be out of luck, unless we knew who sent it. And on top of that we know what area it was sent from, as well. So in the end, they were taunting us. 'Do you know who I am? I know you, and can find you whenever I want to.'"

Shiho thought of this for a minute. "So, if you don't mind me prying, you suspect this was sent by someone known to us?"

"Almost certain of it. There are some former members of Root who are still loyal to Danzo's ideals that would be opposed to the treaty. They're the logical main suspects, but from what Shizune told me yesterday it most likely isn't one of them. If you can believe it, we briefly suspected Ino Yamanaka of being the one, but she doesn't have the talent for sealing jutsu to design something this elegant. In fact, there are only a handful of people in Konoha who are capable of designing something like this, none of whom have close ties with Hinata or Santa..."

"Well, it would have to be someone who at least has met Miss Hyuga, or remembers the Hyuga Incident."

"Ah, the Hyuga Incident! Thanks for reminding me, I'll remember to look into that. Any of the other configuration tests yield results?"

"None, Lady Tsunade."

"Alright. I'm going to head over to ther Interro-"

"Lady Tsunade?" It was Shizune, coming up behind the Hokage. She was wearing a lab coat and apron, and had her hair tied up. "I finished the autopsy. I'd like you to come take a look." With a nod and small wave to Shiho Tsunade left to follow Shizune.

After they were out of sight, Shiho turned back to her desk and pulled out the original slip of paper bearing the seal. I'm assuming most of those handful of people are on the configuration team. It definitely can't be any of them, they're much older than Hinata and probably only leave this place to shower. Just who among Hinata's acquaintances does that leave...? Shiho was lost in her thoughts when she noticed someone standing at her desk. "Oh! You're, you're... Tenten, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry I almost forgot your name." Shiho said with a sheepish smile. "What did you need me for?"

"Tsunade wanted to have a look at the original seal," Tenten said.

"She was just here a moment ago."

"I passed her in the hall, she said she'd forgotten and wanted me to run by and pick it up for her," Tenten lied.

"Oh. Well, here it is." Shiho said, handing the scrap of paper over. "Anything else?"

"Do you know where the restroom is?"

"In that door across the room over there," Shiho pointed. "Women's is on the left."

"Thanks." Tenten turned and swiftly walked off, weaving around the desks and disappearing into the restroom. Looking back between Tenten and Shiho, one of the latter's colleagues got up and walked over to her desk.

"Did you see them come in?" The man asked, looking down at Shiho over the tops of his glasses.

"Who, Tenten?" The man nodded. "No, I was thinking about the seal and didn't hear her walk up to my desk."

"That's because she didn't! She suddenly appeared right in front of your desk!"

"Genji, you've been up for three days. There's no one who's learned the Flying Thunder God Jutsu since Lord Fourth, it's impossible for her to have just appeared." Genji frowned and turned away mumbling, sulking all the way back to his desk. Shiho went back to work, and was a couple minutes into analyzing the handwriting from the notes again when it hit her. Oh. Oh my...

Elsewhere, Shizune was pointing to the calf of a cadaver. "That small cut is the only other mark on her, there's no other signs this ninja was involved in a battle. The body was completely healthy, no tissue damage from blunt impacts or poison or anything." Shizune took a breath. "Then I took a closer look at the chest... see the ribs?"

Tsunade leaned in to get a closer look. "Clean breaks with linear striations part of the way through before they were snapped..." It only took a moment for Tsunade to figure it out. "So Taiyocho faked their death. They found this girl, and since they aren't quite strong enough to punch straight through someone, scored this girl's ribs before the blow." Tsunade angrily sighed. "What I hate most about this is the cover-up. One of our ninja was behind the attack on Kumo's treaty scroll team, and Hinata definitely knows who, but no one with the necessary skills has the motive!"

"...Maybe they were coerced into doing it," Shizune suggested. Tsunade's expression lifted and she was about to say something when Shiho ran in.

"Have you seen Tenten?!"

"Tenten's back in Konoha?" Tsunade asked.

"She was here just a minute ago, but she's not in the restroom."

Tsunade shared a bemused look with Shizune before answering. "I haven't seen her, Shiho. Sorry." The cryptologist huffed and ran off to continue looking.

c=={=======

The gates looked the same as they always had. Despite the wars and invasions, they remained unchanged and held their arms open for Tenten. She waved to Shikamaru and Hanabi, who had gate duty today.

"Good to see you're back," He said. "I think you're only the third person to come through today."

"Nice and peaceful, huh?"

"Yes..." Hanabi answered quietly. Shikamaru waved her in and Tenten set off for her apartment.

Clean clothes and a shower, here I come... Before too many ninja could spot her Tenten went to the rooftops, skipping over them like a rock thrown across a pond. Unpack and unwind, that's the mission today. I'll dust and clean up tomorrow. Hmm... I wonder where I'll put my new katana... on the one hand I don't want it out, but on the other it makes reading my chakra signature impossible... Tenten was still weighing the pros and cons of having her black katana available for use when she reached her apartment. Key into the lock, turn, and open. Her place looked just as she remembered, except for three things: Kakashi, Santa, and Shiho.

Kakashi paused the DVD as the blood spurted out. "And that's the Red Wedding," He said to a mortified Shiho. "Hey Tenten! We're in the middle of a Game of-"

"What are you doing in my house."

"What were you doing in Nakamura Pass is the more important question," Kakashi answered.

"You didn't answer my question. That comes first."

Santa stretched his arms out in front of him. "We wanted to get in contact with you before anyone else," He began. "Tsunade is suspicious, and she knows Hinata and I aren't giving her the whole truth. She knows the attack on our treaty scroll relay team was an inside job, but she can't pin the tail on the donkey, so to speak. Right now her best guess is a former member of Root, Daisuke Nohara."

Tenten froze. "Could you say that name again?"

"Daisuke Nohara." Kakashi said. "...He was briefly in Root, before Danzo decided his skills didn't fit. He had a child and then vanished a couple years later after the Hyuga Incident." Kakashi eyed Tenten. "Or did he?"

"...He didn't. He and his son are about a day's run North-East of the village. He mentioned he... stays connected." Kakashi nodded, now blankly staring at the floor. "It would make sense for it to be him, unless you met him. He's an equal opportunity ninja hater, so it doesn't make sense for him to only go after Kumo and Konoha if he knew about the treaty."

Shiho cleared her throat as Tenten closed the door. "I should also mention you flushing the piece of paper with the seal was... unfortunate."

"How?"

"It was actually a rather large deal in the department: a mysterious seal shows up on a death threat, only to later be revealed as the key to a tracking jutsu- and then that original seal suddenly vanishes while supposedly being carried to Lady Tsunade."

Tenten frowned. She's right, I should have thought that through. "What tracking jutsu are you talking about? I use that seal for the Flying Thunder God Jutsu."

"You haven't heard of it before because the configuration team accidentally created it while trying to decipher your seal," Shiho explained.

"It's actually pretty handy," Kakashi added. "You should learn it sometime." Tenten sighed, and sat down on the arm of her couch next to Shiho.

"So what else have I messed up while I was gone?"

"Faking your death." Said Kakashi. "While a nice idea, you didn't pull it off well enough to fool Shizune and Lady Tsunade; but I can't fault you for that as there aren't too many people who could. Choosing the Raikage was also a nice thought, but if he sees the body he'll most likely be able to tell you two apart, which... wouldn't go over well with him, I think." Kakashi looked up from the floor to Tenten. "So, back to my original question: what were you doing in Nakamura Pass?"

"I thought I'd be able to... heal, if I spent some time out there alone. But then the Kumo ninja attacked me, and it just snowballed from there until the Raikage and Mizukage came after me."

"Mizukage?" Santa and Kakashi asked, eyebrows raised. "We'll get to that in a second-" Kakashi said with a glance to Santa. "Why did the Kumo ninja attack?"

"One of them said I had a kill on sight order on me. Until this one asshole recognized me and ruined everything, they weren't so bad. I was planning on moving out of their way so they could meet up with your team at my camp. I didn't know it was the Konoha team the next day, and since there were only three of you I just decided to stay out of sight and try to scare you away." Tenten threw up her hands. "So that's how it started."

"Did you actually meet the Raikage?" Santa asked.

"Yes. I thought I was going to die, but I managed to keep him wrong-footed until I attacked his ninja and got away." Tenten gulped. "I don't know if even the Flying Thunder God Jutsu will help me get away if we meet again..." Looking up, she saw the others waiting for her to continue. "I... became the Tenten from Gurren Lagann again for those last few days. I don't think a kill on sight order accurately covers how much they must hate me now."

"What about the Mizukage?" Kakashi prompted.

"I assume she was there to help the Kumo ninja, but for what reason I don't know... again I'm not sure of why, but I think Kiri is allied with Kumo. Daisuke mentioned that the Raikage had met with her, probably to discuss a joint military operation."

"...Of which you are the target." Tenten nodded, and Kakashi continued. "Well, at least you didn't knock out the Mizukage and write 'worthless old hag' on her forehead. Then we'd really be in trouble." Kakashi shared a chuckle with Santa over the joke, until he saw Tenten's face.

"...So what do we do from here?" Shiho asked.

"What I did the whole time I was out there," Tenten answered. "Make it up as we go along."

c=={=======

Tsunade, Shizune, Sakura, and Naruto were traveling to the Land of Hotsprings. Though proposed with the air of a friendly affair, this was anything but: they would be meeting with the Raikage and Mizukage. Tsunade also knew that Yugakure was a veritable gold mine of top secret information: during massages and soaking in the hot springs things had a tendency to slip out and be overheard. Sakura and Naruto weren't aware of this part of the mission, however, and were simply there to act as Tsunade's bodyguards.

"I can't wait to get there and relax," Naruto said.

"That's not all what we're going there to do," Sakura chided. "Remember that you're a bodyguard first."

"But it will be nice to have a bit of time to rest before we get into the meeting," Said Shizune.

"See? Shizune agrees with me!"

"I think we all do. Just don't get overly excited." Tsunade glanced over towards Naruto and continued to lead the way.

"Uh, I... kinda wasn't listening well when you were explaining everything..."

"I'm here to meet with the Raikage concerning the rogue ninja from Nakamura Pass. As you'll be one of my bodyguards, you'll get the other details at the meeting."

"Ah, okay. Thought it was something like that." A few minutes of silent running later, Naruto spoke up again. "Do you know who the Raikage's bodyguards will be?"

"It stands to reason that they'll most likely be the ones who accompanied him to the Five Kage Summit." Shizune answered. "He didn't inform us about it, so I don't know for sure." Shizune glanced sideways at Naruto. I've heard it through the grapevine that something happened to Darui, and he hasn't been seen much since the last battle. It'll probably just be C with the Raikage... I wish we could've brought Hinata along, but it wouldn't be fair to expose her like that with the Raikage present. It'll be bad enough already. We'll be dancing on a razor's edge... Naruto remained quiet, so Shizune focused on the run...

A little over two hours later they arrived, the gates looming up ahead. "Hey there!" Naruto waved to a duo of ninja by the gates and sprinted off to meet them.

"Naruto..." Sakura sighed and rubbed her temples as they walked off to catch up.

"Great to see you again."

C gave Naruto a somewhat friendly nod, but the Raikage merely stared at Naruto with a marginally annoyed expression on his face. "Lady Hokage," A said as the Konoha ladies came to Naruto's side. "The bath house has been secured. We invite you to join us." A's tone of voice was tight, and Shizune wondered what fury lurked beneath it.

"Thank you for your invitation, we will join you." The Raikage led them off at a brisk pace through the bustling streets of the city, taking the odd turn here and there until they came to a long street lined with bath houses and hot spring establishments. Their goal was a comparatively small bath house named Arashi's Spa and Inn. It was an oldfashioned building, complete with red trim and dragon statues guarding the corners of the roof on the second floor.

"Welcome my lord, and milady." The host bowed, the long sleeves of their kimono almost touching the floor. "Please, your rooms are this way..." They followed the small woman around the corner and down the hall, before she stopped and turned around. "Milady," She said, gesturing to her left. She inclined her head to the Raikage and offered the room across the hall to him. "The hall leads to the spring." With a practiced smile the host bowed again, and left. Naruto nervously weighed his options for a second and decided to head in with the Raikage when Shizune caught his shoulder. She gave a small shake of her head and brought him into the suite with her.

"Um, I, uh..."

"Naruto." Tsunade beckoned him with a finger as she began to slip her jacket off. She leaned in close and whispered, "Naruto, in the hot spring I want you to briefly enter Sage Mode, and feel out the area for any negative emotions or hidden chakra signatures. Got that?"

"Yeah. I'll let you know if I find anything."

"Good. Let's just set our things down in the bedroom and then head over to the hot spring, okay?" Tsunade slid open the door and tossed in her travel bag next to a rolled up sleeping mat, of which there were three around the room. Naruto gulped upon seeing this, but Tsunade took his backpack and tossed into the middle of the room next to the table, her expression saying "deal with it". She motioned for Shizune and Sakura to follow once they put down their bags. The Raikage and C weren't far behind them. They separated at the changing rooms, Naruto picking up the bucket of soaps and shampoo once disrobed.

The hot spring was of a decent size, an oval bent at the middle into a bean shape. Forcibly not looking to the left, Naruto instead took in the carefully arranged and cultivated bonsai trees at the far edge of the pool. Setting the bucket down into the pool, Naruto slowly slipped in a few yards away from C and the Raikage. As his muscles warmed and loosened up he closed his eyes and let his worries melt away for a moment. Oh, yeah... Going completely still he focused on drawing in natural energy, and blending it with his own. When he had his chakra in balance he could distinctly feel a potent mix of grief and resentment and Killing Intent from his right, but nowhere else in the bath. Focusing, Naruto channeled his remaining senjutsu chakra into a mighty fart. C and A looked over, thoroughly unimpressed. "Eheh, guess I need to eat something to settle my stomach, huh?" The was a short awkward pause before the three of them went back to admiring the bonsai. Before long the incident was forgotten by Naruto and he sank lower in the the spring, until his head was just above the water. He closed his eyes again and let his mind wander, the heat reaching up to the top of his head. Ah, this is the stuff... no worries, just relaxing in a hot spring... Hearing the water ripple to his right Naruto saw the Raikage heading his way. "Oh, hey- you want me to wash your back for you?" A wild Awkward Silence appeared. It used Glare! Super Effective!

"...That won't be necessary." A took the bucket and waded back over to C, who got out the soap and started lathering up the Raikage's back. Naruto sighed and was floating back to his spot when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"AGH!" Naruto almost jumped out of the water.

"Settle down, I just came over to wash your back for you," Shizune said.

"What is it with you and washing my back..." Naruto mumbled. Shizune chuckled, and squirted some body wash onto a poof. Her hands were steady on his shoulders and back, almost massaging him. He didn't notice when Shizune wove her fingers into his hair and tilted his head back to scrub his neck under his chin. He did notice, however, when she started washing his chest. "Hey, hey hey hey!" There was a look on Shizune's face that he'd never seen before, and didn't know if he liked.

"I'll let you take care of everything below the water," Shizune whispered. She stepped back, and watched as Naruto awkwardly finished washing himself. Shizune settled down next to him, putting an arm around his shoulders. The dark, hungry look in Shizune's eyes was gone, replaced by a small and comfortable smile that somehow made Naruto even more nervous. Luckily, a few minutes of soaking later, the Raikage was ready to go, and Naruto went with him.

As the ladies entered the changing room moments later, Sakura approached Shizune. "What was that about?" She asked, seeing the spa staff member come in.

Shizune didn't turn around to answer. "He's not a boy anymore."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I think Naruto needs a woman." Sakura understood what that meant, but Tsunade stepped between them before the situation could combust.

"Not now, please. Shizune, did you take care of the ribs on the body like I asked you to?"

"Yes, the breaks are consistent with a punch now. I sealed up the cut on the calf, too; did what I could to make it look like a scar."

"Good. I still don't expect it to fool him, but let's just wait and see how close to the chest he's playing..." The spa staff member folded up the bath robe, and placed it on the shelf. She was nervous around the trio of kunoichi, but steeled herself and focused on what she'd come here for. Tsunade sighed, looking at the ceiling. "After we're done here I want to track down Daisuke Nohara. I'm certain he's still in the Land of Fire as some of our informants and contractors have mentioned a 'man in the forest'. Could you and Hinata handle that for me, Sakura?"

"Yes."

Tsunade nodded. "I'll get you the details when we're back in Konoha." The last clean bath robe folded and placed on the shelf, the staff member left. Her next job was in the massage parlor, which was behind the reception desk at the other side of the building. Smoothing her apron she hurried over, even more nervous. Her client for the session was no less than the Raikage himself. She bustled into the room, early. She steadied herself in front of the table, conscious of how she looked. Her hands were obscured beneath it for a moment before she procured the tools of the trade, placing them on the stand next to the table- and the Raikage walked in as she did so.

"My lord," She bowed. Trying not to stare at A's eye patch she led him to the table, and took his bath robe from him. He laid out with a heavy sigh. "A long day of travel, sir?" She asked, lubricating her hands with oil.

"You have no idea..." Hesitating a moment, the young woman focused and then applied her hands to A's lower back, pressing down and out to his side. She looked at the area, and seeing as how he hadn't reacted to the touch she continued the massage.

"I've heard how you ninja can run for days. I get out of breath just rushing around here, sometimes."

"The run wasn't any more taxing than usual, but this situation with the training regiment is frustrating..."

"The young ninja from your village getting too rowdy, then?"

A snorted. "Acting like young ninja is the problem: some of them can't sit still and want to rush ahead, others are too scared to run the exercises, and some of them aren't getting along with the ninja from Kiri. We need to focus. The more time we take to train the more time that bitch has to hide..." The servant girl didn't press for details, and concentrated on her massage technique. She glanced at A's lower back again, then moved to focus on his shoulders. The Raikage glanced at the young woman's homely face, with its heavy brow and pronounced right cheekbone. She seemed a bit shy, lacking the confidence of a more experienced masseuse. A resigned himself to the sub-par massage, and closed his eyes.

An hour later and the Raikage was at the resort village's only hospital. The receptionist nodded as he came in, and A went down with C to the basement, to the morgue. Though the hospital was small- only three square floors in all- the morgue took up the entire lower floor. There were steel drawers lining the walls, and there were a handful of bodies on tables around workstations in the center of the room. The morticians were not currently present, though.

By a table at one workstation were Tsunade, Sakura, Shizune, and Naruto. "Let's go ahea and get started." Tsunade pulled out the scroll, and unsealed the body and centered it on the table. "This is the body of the ninja who claimed to be Taiyocho."

They do look familiar... "...And the witness claimed I punched straight through them?" Tsunade nodded. "Then your witness is lying."

"Which is what we suspected," Tsunade said. "It could be that Taiyocho and the rogue ninja are two separate individuals."

"That is a possibility," Sighed the Raikage. "One was the informant and the other... confronted my ninja in battle. I would now like to theorize that since this is certainly not the ninja I faced, perhaps this Taiyocho is from your village?"

"Again, we have already suspected that. Currently we're investigating our list of suspects, of which Daisuke Nohara is at the top."

"I've never heard that name before."

"Not many people have, sir." Said Shizune. "Due to him being a former member of Root his identity has been all but erased."

"However, as he disappeared soon after a certain incident between our villages, we believe he may be harboring a grudge and attacked the treaty scroll relay teams to delay its ratification until he could move to a more secure base." Tsunade tapped the table with a finger, deep in thought. "Maybe the Mountain's Graveyard..."

"On a related topic, Lady Hokage," Spoke C into the silence, "Do you have the ninja you've selected for the Hunter Squad?"

"These four here..." Tsunade pulled a piece of paper from her jacket and handed it to C. "Once the registry is fully operational we'll begin the joint exercises in Kusa."

The Raikage nodded, and thought for a moment. "Besides this Daisuke Nohara, who are your chief suspects?"

"As for the identity of Taiyocho, well... he is the only one. We have no ninja capable of the feats you mentioned the rogue ninja from the pass performed, though. Perhaps maybe each individually, but no single ninja capable of all of them."

The Raikage sighed angrily. "Then I propose a new direction. Instead of looking for the culprits, we target those involved in the cover-up. This wild goose chase looking for Taiyocho has led us nowhere! You say your witness to this kunoichi's death was lying? Interrogate her! I will do the same with those who knew Homboi."

"Homboi?" Naruto asked.

"He wounded Darui," A growled, "And payed the traitor's price. His treachery seems to have died with him, but we will continue to investigate- everyone from low ranking shinobi to our greatest heroes." A stared into Tsunades eyes after that last word, communicating a hidden message.

"We will do the same," Tsunade said, sealing the body back into the scroll.

c=={=======

"This would've taken forever without your Byakugan," Sakura said. "The undergrowth is so thick in this part of the forest."

"It would've gone faster still if we had Shino or Kiba with us..." Hinata added. Sakura nodded, and glimpsing the scene through the gap in the trees her spirit sank.

"Looks like we're too late."

"No, see the shoots?" Hinata pointed to the fresh green blades of grass sticking up through the dirt of the blast crater. "I'd say this happened about a week ago, at least."

"A week?" Sakura's head spun. How could a man as secretive as Daisuke Nohara have been found so easily, without a Byakugan to aid in the search?

"Let's just be careful and keep going. Remember someone was in the cabin..." Going past the fallen tree and and crater, Hinata led them through the bushes and vines, twisting and turning and going off the beaten path until the log cabin showed itself between the trees. They walked the beaten path in front of the cabin to its door, and Hinata knocked twice.

"Come in." A female voice. Ready to fling kunai at a moment's notice Sakura and Hinata entered.

"WHAT?!"

"Surprised? Who were you expecting to see?"

"Certainly not a dead body I've carried around for days." The young woman was identical to the supposed dead corpse of Taiyocho. They chuckled, and stood from the chair at the table.

"Well, if you're looking for Mr. Nohara you're out of luck. By now he and his son- both of whom are innocent of the crimes you suspect them of- are long gone, and not even that shiny little Byakugan of Ms. Hyuga's will help you find them."

"Oh? And what crimes are those?" Sakura said.

"Mine. Daisuke hates all nina, Ms. Haruno. Not an agressive hate; he just wants to be left alone. He's not the ninja you're looking for, I can guarantee you that."

"You shouldn't know these things," Sakura said. "Our names, where Nohara lived out here..."

Bafflingly, they nodded. "I know and have done too much. And speaking of impossible and forbidden knowledge, let the Slug Princess know that she should watch the shore to the East. Kiri is now involved in this."

"How do we know that's true? You could be making that up."

"I could, Sakura, just like I'm making all of this up as I go along. I could also be lying out my ass if I say the Raikage and Mizukage are training a joint strike force to attack Konoha- but I'm a criminal, right? Why believe a word I say?"

"Why would the Raikage want to attack us? Our villages haven't been closer than they are now," Hinata said.

"True. But I'll let you in on a little secret: I'm from Konoha, and the Raikage doesn't give a fuck about Konoha as long as I go down with it. Besides attacking his ninja I've cost him an eye and humiliated one of the people closest to him. That man carries a grude like a tailed beast."

From Konoha... so it's her. "Just release your Transformation Jutsu and turn yourself in, and this will be over."

"It's not that simple anymore, Hinata! This ends one of two ways: either I die, or I slaughter every last Kiri and Kumo ninja alive!" Calming themselves, they continued. "...As I said before, I won't attack any Konoha ninja. I want to defend the village in any way I can." They drew in a long breath and sighed. "So go and tell Tsunade to drop the act and let the Raikage know Taiyocho will be waiting for him when he marches on Konoha."

"What do you mean, drop the act?!" Sakura shouted.

"She knew the Raikage wouldn't be fooled by me faking my death, even after she had Shizune touch up the ribs. The Raikage's hiding something, too: he knows who I am, and he knows Taiyocho is the same kunoichi who slaughtered his ninja. He's only buying into the separate identity gambit so you won't suspect his army coming against you."

Sakura back up a couple steps, shaking her head. "Who are you?!"

"I am the Sun Bird, and I will be the end of the Five Great Nations." With that, Taiyocho vanished.

"Hinata, tell me that was a genjutsu..."

"It wasn't..." Hinata looked into Sakura's eyes and took her by the shoulders. "We can trust Taiyocho, Sakura-"

"Why would I want to trust a mass murderer and traitor?!"

"They aren't a traitor!" Hinata shouted. "Listen, we can trust them- and we have to get back to Konoha right now to warn Tsunade. They are from Konoha, and if the Raikage knows who they are then he'll be coming here after them. Let's-"

"No!" Sakura said, knocking Hinata's hand off her. "I'm not leaving until you tell me who Taiyocho is." There was a bitter, pained look on Hinata's face. She turned and left.

c=={=======

"I HATE THIS I HATE MY LIFE I HATE EVERYTHING!" Tenten punched her pillow over and over, crying hot and stinging tears. Shiho walked in from the kitchen, carrying a mixing bowl.

"Did you just get back?" Tenten didn't answer, and hugged her pillow as she cried into it. "...Kakashi should be back around when the cookies get done, and we can talk about it then..."

Tenten was silent for several more moments, trying to still the flow of her tears. "When did you learn to cook, anyways..."

"It's like writing an encrypted message," Shiho said with a shrug. "Chocolate chip. You want some of the batter?" Tenten sat up and nodded, rubbing her eyes. She followed Shiho around the wall to the kitchen, dipping a finger in the bowl for a taste along the way.

"S'actually pretty good..." Please let there be milk in the fridge... A quick check confirmed there was, one full gallon jug and half of another. Tenten sat her elbows on the kitchen counter and watched Shiho scoop the cookie dough onto the pan, the cookies evenly spaced and almost perfectly round. How does she do that... I need to learn how to cook better. A knock at the front door interrupted Tenten's reverie. "I'll get it." Wiping her eyes she walked over to the door and unlocked it.

It was Kakashi. "Hey," He said, raising his eyebrows as he walked in and closed the door behind him. "What's up?"

"Shiho's making cookies," Said Tenten, walking back into the kitchen.

"That all?"

"Thanks to your tip, I was able to catch them at the hotsprings. It's for sure now that Kiri and Kumo are training an army to attack Konoha."

"Any idea on when they're moving out?"

"Not as soon as the Raikage would like, which is immediately. If I had to guess I'd say it's no more than two weeks." Tenten stared at the counter. "...I just got back from Daisuke's cabin. I told them what I just told you, but I don't know how seriously they'll consider it and I don't know how to find out without revealing myself and ruining everything."

"Well, I can tell you right now Tsunade takes protecting Konoha seriously. I don't know if she'll get in contact with Suna for reinforcements but she'll have some of us ready to fight."

"Maybe including me..." Tenten frowned. "How do I get her to trust 'Taiyocho'?"

"Defend Konoha," Kakashi said with entirely too much glee. After a moment it dawned on Tenten, and she began to smile.

"What, what is it?" Shiho asked.

"How do you feel about being a hostage?"

c=={=======

The explosion rocked the gates of Konoha. Instantly the ninja on guard duty were up and in formation at the gate. As the dust settled a tall ninja with curly orange hair, an eye patch, and a scar on his left cheek walked up through the haze.

"Halt there!" Cried Hanabi.

"Halt? You're too late already!" Over his shoulder was a woman, who he set on the ground. "I've captured your top cryptologist, and tortured your darkest secrets out of her with genjutsu! And if I don't get five hundred million ryo within the next hour, I'll kill every ninja in this village, starting with her!"

"You won't be killing any ninja today," Hanabi said determinedly. "Mr. Genma, prepare Battle Formation Delta!" Genma Shiranui took a ready stance next to Hanabi, drawing his tanto.

"Hah! A gnat and an overmatched fool to guard the gates? What has Konoha come to?"

"Let me go!" Shiho screamed.

"Prepare to advance the battle formation-"

"I'll take care of this." Out of nowhere a female ninja popped up between them.

"Who are you?" Genma asked. He was getting an indescribable and vaguely ominous feeling from their presence, which got stronger when the woman turned around. They were wearing the Bird mask of an ANBU Black Ops member, and beneath their flak jacket they wore a white t-shirt that read "I defeated the Raikage and all I got was this stupid t-shirt", and a katana sheathed on their back.

"I am Taiyocho, and today I will be the saviour of Konoha."

Genma's eyes went wide. "I don't think we need your help with-" Taiyocho made the Snake hand seal, and Genma's tanto and Hanabi's kunai and the weapons of all the nearby ninja flew away into the street behind them.

"You don't know this ninja like I do. Stay back." Facing the dastardly villain and his hostage, Taiyocho cried, "No Shadow Kick!" Instantly her foot connetcted with the ninja's face, and Shiho ran to stand behind Genma. Taiyocho engaged the orange ninja in a fierce hand to hand melee, the curly-haired man proving to be very nimble and quick. He dodged this sweep, and that roundhouse, but could not evade a straight to his gut. Forming the Bird hand seal, Taiyocho promptly pulled up a small mountain from the ground. The mighty jutsu didn't catch the orange ninja off-guard, and he landed on the top gracefully. Thrusting up a half Ram seal the large hill brutally exploded upwards. Drawing energy from the bones of the earth(otherwise known as Dragon Veins), Taiyocho balanced and mixed it with her chakra, focusing the extreme surge of energy into her legs. The only way I can use this kick! Here we go- "Leaf Dragon God!" Taiyocho whirled around at blinding speed, the chakra in her legs swirling out and twisting into a dragon-like tornado vortex that rushed into the cloud of debris, starting a small dust storm before detonating in a harsh blast of dirt and rocks. Teleporting into the air for a last No Shadow Kick, Taiyocho nailed the orange-haired ninja with a stomp. She warped under him and stopped his fall with a sharp knee to the back. Taiyocho knelt over his prone body for a moment then stood. "He's finished. Count yourselves lucky I was in the area today." Taiyocho knelt down and touched the defeated rogue ninja, and they vanished.

"Mr. Genma... what just happened..."

Before answering, Genma coughed out the dirt that had been blown into his mouth while it was hanging open. "I don't know, Hanabi. I really don't know." Coughing out more dirt, he turned to the chunin behind him. "Get started on clearing the rubble off the streets!" The Leaf ninja dispersed to go look for brooms when Genma heard ninja running up behind him.

"What's going on?" Sakura and Hinata approached, leaping over the larger chunks of earth.

"Taiyocho subdued a rogue ninja," Genma said. "I'm not sure if I heard them right, but I think that that just might have been the first time I've ever seen the Leaf Dragon God kick done in person..."

"L-Leaf... Dragon..." Sakura shook her head. "I don't know if she's getting more powerful every time she shows up, or if she's just losing patience... anyways, Hinata and I need to report back to Lady Tsunade. You should probably come with us." Hanabi nodded, and the four ninja set off for the Hokage's office.

c=={=======

Tenten panted, her palm sore. "Naruto... I'm not special like you. I'm good at moving my chakra in one direction, that's it."

"You gotta be special if you could learn my old man's other jutsu."

"...If you say so. How did you get past this step?"

"Ah, mostly just lots of practice. I think I used Shadow Clones, too."

"Shadow Clones? What for?"

"So I could 'look both ways'. It helped me learn what I needed with the rotation, and then later with stabilising it."

"Well, what would the Rasengan be like with just one direction of spin?"

"Hmm, lemme see..." Naruto focused, and called up a swirling sphere of blue chakra from his body. He turned and shoved it into the tree, the chakra stripping the bark and wood away. "It kinda works, just not nearly as good, y'know?"

"I just don't know how to do multiple directions of spin at that speed!"

"The earth spins, right? And doesn't the magma move in different directions beneath the surface? Just imagine it like, like that, y'know?"

Tenten stood dumbfounded. Had that really just come out of Naruto's mouth? "...Could you say that again?" Naruto repeated the phrase, and this time Tenten was able to take it in. "I guess you did pay attention during geology..."

"Hey! I'm a bunch smarter than I look." Naruto paced back and forth a bit, wondering how he could expand on his earth metaphor. Nope, that doesn't work... looking in two directions, that doesn't help either. Wait! Aha! "See, it's like this." Naruto took up a stick, and began to draw in the dirt. "You're good at spinning in one direction, right? So this-" Naruto drew a circle with an arrow on the end- "Becomes this when you flip it over." He drew another circle, with the arrow on the end pointing in the opposite direction. "They're the same thing, just from a different view. So, uh, think of the magma stuff like this, and I'm sure you'll learn the rotation part just fine."

Tenten stopped to think over and memorize the instructions. You know, I guess Naruto is pretty smart, in his own way. "Alright. Hand me another balloon." Naruto grinned, and tossed her a bright pink one. Focus, one direction at first... faster, faster... feel the magma! Tenten could feel the balloon jiggling, as it had with the other attempts before it burst due to her grip on it. This time it was different. Her mind began to whirl but she kept her focus on the one direction, until she felt the balloon pop. I- did I do it?! Or was I squeezing too hard?

"Awesome!" Smiled Naruto, clapping Tenten on the shoulder. "Just keep practicing the spin, I'm sure you'll get the power and stabilizing it down no problem," He said with great confidence.

Power, huh... Tenten stored the idea away for later. "Well thank you. Toss me another one, Naruto..." Tenten brought her concentration down on her palm, forcing her chakra out and spinning around inside the balloon. Split the spin, shift it... faster... After another moment of focus the balloon burst. Yes! Tenten smiled, and caught her breath. "So, how are you coming along with the Flying Thunder God Jutsu?"

"Pretty good, I figured out what my seal was yesterday."

What. "...Could you draw it for me?" Naruto nodded, and took up the stick from earlier. The seal was written out in a straight line, then angling out to curve down, before going back up and spiraling around. It took Tenten a moment to figure out what she was seeing. Naruto was grinning, and on his forehead protector she could see the same shape as the seal. He really is something special, isn't he? "I guess I'll have to top that by learning the nature transformation part tomorrow."

Naruto just chuckled. "I wonder what an Earth Release Rasengan would be like..." Naruto looked up to the sky and scratched the back of his neck, chuckling again. "Well, anyways, you're going to need some rubber balls to build up the power part. I just so happen to have brought some with me today." Smiling, Naruto walked bent down and pulled out a smaller bag from the balloon one. "I think that should be enough for today. Back here again tomorrow?" Tenten nodded, and waved goodbye.

c=={=======

"-So I think they' be sailing around the South of Uzushio to avoid the whirlpools."

"What about the main force?" Shiho asked.

"I'm pretty sure they won't be taking the main route South-West," Tenten said. "I think they'll come down South from Oto instead. Kakashi?"

"I think the North is a good bet. With all those water ninjutsu specialists from Kiri they're gonna want to take advantage of the streams and rivers, and the less populated areas away from the coast."

"Alright. I'll set up a tag perimeter to the North. I'll need you to keep an ear to the ground so you can let me know if I need to set one up to the East, too."

"What about Iwa?" Asked Shiho. "If I remember correctly, many of their ninja still have a grudge against us from the previous war. They might try to further weaken us here."

"I hadn't thought of that..."

"It's unlikely, but something we need to prepare for," Said Kakashi. "I'd like to send Santa out towards Kannabi to watch the area, but Tsunade's got him on a tight leash right now."

Tenten was silent for a few moments. "I think I need to disappear until the fighting starts. There's a lot I need to do to prepare the areas, and besides that I need to get my skills razor-sharp just in case I meet the Raikage agai-" A knock on the door. Tenten glanced at Kakashi and Shiho, then rose to answer it.

"Hello, Tenten." Hinata stared at her feet for a few seconds, then looked up. "Lady Tsunade wants to speak with us."

Tenten looked between Kakashi and Hinata, then replied just a moment. "Just a second." Tenten stepped into her room and grabbed her black katana, slinging it onto her back. "Did she say what for?" She asked as the rooftop run began.

"No... but Tenten, she's very suspicious of Santa and I. She knows I know who Taiyocho is and she's been pressuring me to reveal your identity to her. She even mentioned that Ibiki is very anxious to learn Taiyocho's true identity."

"...What did she say when you got back from Daisuke's cabin?"

"She said she would take the appropriate actions once she received the information from reliable sources. That... 'fight' with the orange-haired ninja didn't do much to convice her."

"She's probably just bringing me along to make you comfortable. Don't let your guard down, Hinata... one way or another this will be over before too long and you'll be able to tell her the truth." The dash to the Hokage Tower was quickly done, and the two entered. "Or you know what, just do it now. I should be able to evade capture until the fighting's done." Tenten and Hinata took the stairs two at a time, sprinting up and up. They made it to the office door, knocked three times, and entered.

"Lady Tsunade," Hinata bowed. Tsunade was facing away from them, arms folded as she took in the evening view. She sighed, and turned around to sit in her chair.

"I have a problem, Tenten. A ninja has given me their word that an army of ninja from two hidden villages is coming to destroy Konoha... but this same ninja attacked a team carrying one of the most vitally important treaty scrolls the hidden villages have ever drafted. What would you do?"

"I would at least have some ninja ready, so we would have time to evacuate the village."

"Which is what I'm thinking of doing," Tsunade said. She gave a meaningful glance to Hinata, then spoke to Tenten again. "Why are you carrying a katana in the village?"

"I don't trust this particular one to be left alone, Lady Tsunade."

"What for?"

"...It has a very dangerous seal applied to the blade that activates on contact."

"Hmm. Well, Hinata, I'm sure you know why I brought you here. Tenten, Taiyocho has claimed they are from Konoha, and previously we suspected they were, as well. Personally, I am sure that Hinata here knows their identity. Perhaps since your graduating class is so close, she has told you who Taiyocho is? Or you might have clues to their identity, maybe."

"Hinata has definitely not told me anything about who Taiyocho is, Lady Tsunade. What I've heard of this rogue ninja doesn't match up with anyone that I know of." Technically true. "Their skillset is too varied. For example, I've learned the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, but could I perform the Leaf Dragon God kick like I heard they did a couple days ago? No."

"Yes, but what I'm looking for is an overall secretive change in personality. Does that seem like anyone you know?"

"No. But then again, don't all ninja have se-" In the middle of her sentence, Tenten vanished.

Reverse summoned...? Or... "Hinata, what am I going to do..."

"Prepare to fight against Kumo and Kiri. I swear on my life that you can trust Taiyocho, Lady Tsunade. You have to believe her..."

"I want to, Hinata. Maybe if I was someone besides the Hokage I could." Tsunade leaned back in her chair, eyes closed. Why not? "What about Tenten? Has she been hiding anything from you lately?"

"No, ma'am. Tenten has been completely honest with me." Hinata said bravely.

"What about that katana of hers? I've never known her to carry a weapon outside of a scroll before."

"Well, I haven't seen her without it since she's come back to Konoha, but she hasn't said anything about it other than what she just did."

Tsunade sighed again, then opened her eyes to look at Hinata. "Is it her?"

Hinata gulped, then opened her mouth to speak...

c=={=======

"-crets?" Tenten blinked. She was in a cave, and in front of her was Kawatatsu. "What is it?"

"Ninja from Kumo and a far away village have approached, young Tenten. They are training for war." Kawatatsu pointed behind her with a claw, and Tenten turned to look.

"...I can't see anything." It's darker out here... She felt Kawatatsu rest a claw on her shoulders, and her vision sharpened. After a couple disorienting moments Tenten found the ninja. One stood before them and pointed to the sharp hills, saying something. The force of ninja raised their fists and shouted in response. The zooming vision disappeared, and Tenten reeled backwards. They're here already... "I have to get down there and stop them..."

"Not today, young Tenten. The time will come for battle but first you must be ready. There is still much you have to learn..." Kawatatsu bridged up and pulled Tenten in, settling down around her. Tenten sat down, and before she knew it she was asleep.

When she woke in the morning, she was at the edge of the cave, the mountain to her right."Ah!"

"Today, I will teach you to fly as the dragons did." With no further instruction, Kawatatsu pushed Tenten down the mountain. Tenten bounced down several yards before she stopped her fall. She climbed back, Kawatatsu waiting for her. "What did you learn from that fall?"

"Absolutely nothing!" Before she could catch her breath Kawatatsu flicked her out of the cave into the air. Tenten twisted and tumbled until she could get the mountain beneath her, and braced for impact. She thudded into the earth and slid down, before warping into the cave.

"And what did you feel in that fall?"

"Gravity pulling me down like it does with everything."

"Everything?" Tenten didn't know if it was possible, but she got the sense that Kawatatsu was smiling. As she looked into his eyes, she was flung out of the cave again. This time she was sent far away and high into the air. Tenten again felt herself falling, the wind rushing up around her. The ground was rapidly approaching and Tenten decided to teleport into the cave instead of trying to survive the fall. "And what did you feel this time?"

"I felt myself flying through the air and then falling, really, really fast."

"Excellent." Kawatatsu flung Tenten out of the cave full force. Tenten closed her eyes and felt herself going up, and up, longer than she thought she should. Fly, come- FLY! But as she tried, Tenten started falling. She twisted around to face the ground, the sensation of falling filling up her mind with fear. She warped into the cave before she could build up too much speed. "You flew."

"I did? When?"

"Before you fell."

"Before..." Wait... so when I kept going up... "But I wasn't doing anything then! Not manipulating my chakra or magnetic force, nothing!"

"It is not a matter of chakra or simply thought, but spirit, young Tenten."

"Well, every young kid has dreamed of flying. Why aren't they flying all over the place?"

"Because they lack technique."

"Then why can't older ninja do it?"

"Because they lack spirit." The cave went silent, only the occasional chirping of birds interrupting the pause.

"...Could you throw me again, please?" No sooner than Tenten had spoken Kawatatsu obliged her, and Tenten was able to land at the base of the mountain safely.

After spending the morning being thrown off of a mountain and flying, Tenten was thinking over what she had planned to do the previous day: how to take what she did and sharpen it, make it better. Flying comes first, then the Rasengan... what could I do with the Flying Thunder God Jutsu? I can't work on shuriken or sealing jutsu right now, all my stuff is back in Konoha... so I guess just those three for right now. Alright, Rasengen it is. Tenten hopped up from the log near the firepit and walked towards the dam. As Naruto had predicted, the power and stabilisation of the Rasengan had come quickly, and now Tenten was aiming to reduce the time she needed to form it. The sphere swirled up, and Tenten thrust it into the dam. Over and over she formed each Rasengan as fast as she could, slamming them into the dam's dirt wall. Only when Tenten's stomach rumbled and her palms were aching did she stop for a moment. Tenten bent over with her hands on her knees, panting.

Draw in energy from the bones of the earth, balance and blend it... With the power of the Dragon Veins absorbed Tenten felt revitalized, though still short of breath. "Alright. Now it's time to give it a try." Drawing up energy from the Dragon Veins began forming a Rasengan, the surge of power from the veins turned the whirling chakra purple. Urgh- The Rasengan spun out of control, and dissipated. No- try getting it balanced first- After absorbing more power from the Dragon Vein and balancing it with her chakra, Tenten was somewhat surprised to see that the Rasengan was still purple- but the surge of energy spun out of control again. "Almost..." Looking around the campsite, Tenten spotted one of her Flying Thunder God Kunai, and jogged over to pull it out of the ground. She pricked the center of her palms with it, and then began forming a Rasengan the same way as her last attempt. She used the faint pain in her palm to sharpen her focus, and brought the wild rotation under under her control. With a shout she stablized it, and the purple chakra of the Rasengan took on a sparkling gem-like quality. Another yell, and Tenten ran forwards to shove it into a tree. There were wood chips flying away like a blizzard, and a rustling and cracking noise- Tenten realized the Rasengan had ground away most of the tree trunk. Quickly stepping to the other side she watched the sixty foot tall tree fall into her camp. Step by step... next with the flesh, then the skin... a step at a time... Turning to a tree to her left, Tenten began forming another Rasengan...

Three Rasengan later, and Tenten had to stop. Her palms were too raw and they were starting to bleed tiny drops of blood. She pushed down the pain and floated up to the top of the dam, and sunk her hands into the water. The cool brought a stinging relief, and Tenten sighed. I can't go back to Konoha for supplies right now, so... the only place I might... Tenten licked her lips and swallowed, and warped into her underground base. She fumbled around in the dark for a moment to find the lamp, and turned it on. Against the wall was Shanna's old Kumo flak jacket which she put on. She warped back up to the mountain, and looked out from the cave.

"Patience, young Tenten."

"I need balm for my hands, Mr. Kawatatsu. I haven't seen any of the herbs I need out here so I'm going to see if the joint force has any." She looked over her shoulder. "Could you share your sight with me, please?" Kawatatsu rested his claw on her shoulders, and with a startling rush Tenten's vision zoomed in. There- a short ways back from where they were last time. "Okay..." Tenten was ready for the release from the sight, and stood firm. "Summon me if you think there's something I need to do." Tenten ran and jumped, flying off. She was not as fast as she was running full speed on the ground, but flying in a straight line kept the travel time down, saving having to sneak around through the brush and canopy. As she came near she curled around towards the tent village and sank to just above the trees, then silently dropped down. Using the transformation Technique, Tenten took the appearance of the kunoichi she'd used to fake her death, leaving her hands unchanged. She walked into the camp, blowing on her palms. She soon spotted a Kumo ninja, who she waved to.

"What's up?"

"I haven't been to the medic tent since we moved out here. My new jutsu backfired when I was practicing it and I need something for my palms." Tenten held them out, and the stone-faced Kumo ninja grimaced slightly. He motioned with his head for her to follow. They went past the tents of the main body, and after taking a turn ended up at a clearing in the forest where a large and open tent stood. The Kumo ninja nodded to Tenten, and left. Tenten stepped into the tent, which was full, and was greeted by a kunoichi with pale blonde hair and bags under her eyes.

"How can I help?"

"I wanted to make a balm for my hands. You look kinda busy here, so could you point me to somewhere I might fix it?" The kunoichi medic took one of Tenten's hands in hers and looked at it closely.

"...Alright. Make sure to come back tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes ma'am." The woman took Tenten to a smaller tent just a few steps away.

"Make sure you stay quiet and keep to yourself. She snaps at almost anything these days."

Who's gotten snappy? But there was no further explanation, and Tenten shrugged and stepped in. She almost had a heart attack. "L-Lady Mizukage." Tenten bowed. She kept her gaze on the shelves, quickly finding the herbs and ingredients necessary.

"No need to be so shy. Come on over." Tenten tentatively walked over to the mixing table and stood next to Mei, getting all her ingredients ready. "I'm just preparing some all natural makeup."

"What do you need makeup for? You're beautiful."

Mei's expression swiftly darkened. "...I guess you haven't heard what that fucking slut did to my forehead."

"Uh, no, ma'am. I don't focus on all the gossip flying around." Tenten hesitantly held up a hand. "May I?" Mei nodded, and Tenten swept aside Mei's long bangs, her hand settling on the back of the Mizukage's neck. "Oh... that's awful..."

"She could have left off at knocking me out, that would have been more than enough," Mei grumbled as she got started on grinding a powder.

"I hope I don't run across her," Tenten commented as she crushed and began to grind a spiky-leafed herb in the bowl. "I can't even get this new jutsu right- it's what hurt my hands, see."

"What jutsu is it? Maybe I could give you some tips."

I really need to become a better liar. "Well, what it's supposed to do is flare out in a circle around you, but it just... kinda farts out forwards when I do it."

"What about the hand seals? It could be that you got one mixed up." Mei added a pinch of a pale powder to her bowl, eyeing the mix carefully for a second.

"They're Snake, Dragon, and a clap."

"...Ah. You see, the Dragon seal is only circulating the chakra along your pathways for that justu, increasing the intensity of the... 'fart', as you say. Most Fire Release jutsu need to be opened up with the Tiger seal so that the chakra flows more freely. So, it should go- Snake, Tiger, and clap. Once the fire chakra has been freed with the Tiger seal the clap will do what it needs to."

Tenten's jaw hung open briefly. "I wish I could be good with hand seals like you," She said, totally honest.

"They just take some study and practice, that's all. You know, that sounds like a handy jutsu, actually..." Mei focused on adding and mixing a pinch of another light mineral powder to her bowl.

What is it with me and accidentally helping create jutsu? Tenten shook her head, and crushed the leaves of a bitter plant before grinding it with the rest of the mixture in her bowl. Heat up the wax and oil... Tenten put a small pot on the portable burner, but Mei stopped her.

"I'll handle that for you." Mei held the pot in her hand, and squinted at it. The wax began to melt and mix with the oil, slowly revolving. Tenten almost forgot to add spring water to the herbs and let the mixture soak, before transferring it to another small pot for heating up on the prtable burner. "How long does that need to heat?"

"It needs to boil for a little bit." Mei touched a finger to the edge, and almost instantly it began to boil. I got lucky, like I did with the Raikage. She's so far out of my league... Watching the bubbles for a minute, Tenten wondered what else she would do once she had the salve. What would a normal Kumo ninja do in this situation, think... "Thank you for your help, Lady Mizukage. I, I forgot to introduce myself earlier. I'm... Amane Tatsuyama."

"A pleasant name. And you can just call me Mei when we're together. Is that alright?" She said, glancing at the herbs.

"Yes... the wax and oil should be fine, too..." Tenten took the pots from Mei, and strained the water before mixing the two.

"I actually have a bit of free time today, Amane. Why don't we work on that jutsu of yours together?" Mei poured her powder into a small jar and pocketed it.

"Oh, no, thank you. I'd like to make another batch. This stuff is a huge blessing to have when you're out in the forest training like we are, and it goes fast."

Mei inclined her head. "Farewell, then." The Mizukage left the tent, and Tenten finally felt like she could breathe. She picked a small glass jar of the herb behind the one in front off the rack, and quickly found the mineral extract to go with it. The herb was a poisonous one that normally underwent a long process before it was used in antidotes to the more common neuromuscular poisons, and the mineral extract was used in small amounts as a sleep inducing agent. Tenten was no master medic nin as she'd once hoped to be, but she still knew enough to know she definitely didn't want to be caught doing what she was about to do. The spade-shaped leaves of the herb were crushed and ground as fine as Tenten could quickly manage, and thoroughly blended with the extract. Once this was done the jars were replaced, Tenten tied up the powder into a small satchel, and poured more spring water into one of the pots she'd used earlier. She dropped the satchel into the water, which soon discolored and heated up. After what felt like an eternity but was really only a few minutes the pot began to steam, and then simmer, and then boil. Tenten turned off the burner then, the mineral extract causing the deadly tea to thicken as it cooled. Once it was a runny syrup consistency Tenten snatched up an empty bottle and poured it in, stopping it up with a cork and tucking it into her flak jacket and snatching up her salve.

Before Tenten could make it three steps out of the tent she was stopped by a Kumo ninja in charge of training one of the army's regiments. She had no choice but to go with him, and got caught up training with the Kumo and Kiri ninja. Come evening Tenten was starving, not having eaten anything in a whole day. Tenten was able to get two packs of field rations before following the crowd to the "mess hall" area of the camp, picking a random log for a seat. She poured in a bit of water from her canteen to activate the FRH and set her meal against a small rock and let it warm up as she thought of the day's training. Target practice with the new ceramic shuriken was what bothered her the most, as she wouldn't be able to defend herself against the new shuriken with her magnetic barrier jutsu. Then there was the fact her ring of fire jutsu had spread quickly among the Fire Release users, as a counter to her approaching with her black katana. It had top-notch speed for a Fire Release technique, and with some extra power put into it the wall of fire could even topple standing foes. If I ever learn to use Fire Release that's going to the first jutsu I learn... I'm glad I got a free pass during practice because of my hands.

"Rough day?" An older kunoichi sat down next to her. The woman had dark hair, and the beginnings of crows feet at the corner of her eyes.

"...Yes. It's going to take me a while to get used to the new ceramic shuriken, and I'm sore from sparring and learning to-" Ack, not flying! "-use that new fire jutsu."

"Ah, the Call of the Heavens Jutsu. I like flexible jutsu like it- it could be the ringing of a bell, or a great shout that sets the world on fire. I wish I'd known it when I was younger."

I wish I hadn't helped create it. "It is pretty neat, I guess. But I'm not so great with fire jutsu; I burned my hands practicing earlier today." The older kunoichi nodded, and got started on preparing her rations.

"You know, when I first started learning Fire Release it was hard for me, too. But now it's easier for me to use than my natural Lightning Release."

"How's that?"

"Lightning Release always takes a bit of focus. Fire, though, can be done with a spark, with emotion."

"Hmm. Maybe I've been overthinking how to mould my chakra, then..."

"Overthinking ruins lot of things, trust me." She said with a wink. "Just feel the heat, instead of trying to add it. Well, that's how I do it, anyways."

Tenten nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." Looking over, Tenten decided to introduce herself. "Amane Tatsuyama."

"Sara Kusajishi- and did you say Amane? The Call of the Heavens Jutsu would be perfect for you." Sara glanced at Tenten's field rations which were starting to steam. "What unit are you in?"

"Third."

"I guess that's why you got hurt training. The Raikage's been pushing you guys really hard." Tenten nodded, and got one of her rations out of the packet. It was a pork chop with gravy, some mashed potatoes, and peas, which looked decent but were found to only have minimal amounts of taste. It was quickly eaten, and the second packet- with the same contents as the first- followed it soon after. "Did you even taste that?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Tenten took a couple gulps of water from her canteen. "But I haven't had anything else all day."

"You've gotta eat when you're training as hard as you are, Amane." Sara admonished.

"I have to get even better for the Raikage..." Though not in the way you think.

"You won't be strong enough if you don't keep your energy up."

"You don't understand, I don't have a choice... I have to get stronger, it's- it's like needing to breathe." Sara raised an eyebrow, then turned her attention to her meal.

"Just think of what you've already done," Sara said around a mouthful of pork chop. "Being a Kumo ninja isn't easy these days, and you survived a whole day of this torture without any food. It's not your average ninja that can do that. As my sensei used to say, 'put your trust in who you are, not who you wish to be'. Don't lose your focus on the moment, Amane."

"...I don't really know who I am right now. I can't really explain it, but I feel like all of this depends on me."

"You know," Sara said quietly, "When I lost my husband four years ago I had become so used to killing and following orders having him by my side I didn't feel like a person when he was gone, and the only reason I could keep going was because I loved him. Even though it hurt I only knew who I was because I loved him and was proud of him. So think of the people you love and keep them with you in your heart, even if it's only in dreams. Sometimes a dream is enough..." Without warning Tenten teared up and started sobbing, holding her head in her hands. "Amane?" Sara laid a gentle hand on Tenten's shoulder, but it was shrugged off.

"I need to go." Not even caring Sara was right next to her, Tenten stood and jumped, flying up through the canopy and into the evening sky. She landed at a small clearing nearby, then sat down against a tree and cried.

The rustling of leaves overhead woke Tenten. A bird called out, and far away came a cooing reply. It was night, and dim shafts of moonlight struck down between the leaves. Tenten sat up and rubbed her eyes, now remembering what she had planned to do at this hour. With a moment of focus Tenten teleported away into the camp, appearing in a tent next to Mei Terumi's bedside. The woman was asleep on her back, mouth slightly open. The lamp on the bedside table was still lit, but burning low, and sat on top of a letter. Trembling, Tenten pulled out a kunai and gently cut a lock of Mei's hair. She then pulled out her bottle of poison and uncorked it, holding the lock against the lip and positioning it over Mei's mouth. Slowly, very slowly, she tipped the bottle over and the poison ran down the strands of hair and dripped into Mei's mouth. Tenten's heart pounded with fear, so loud she thought it would wake the Mizukage. It didn't. Neither did the steady drip of the poison. After what surely must have been hours, Tenten saw about a fourth of the poison had been administered, and decided to stop. Taking deep, slow breaths, Tenten waited for the poison to do its work. Gradually the Mizukage's breaths slowed, and Tenten relaxed.

Time to make a statement. Quietly Tenten pulled back the top sheet, finding the Mizukage still in her blue dress. Tenten took off the belt and unzipped the dress, and pulled it off. Next came the blue shorts off her legs, followed by the mesh leggings. Pausing to admire Mei's leather and lace panties, after a moment Tenten pulled those off, as well. Moving her hair out of the way Tenten rolled Mei onto her side and unzipped her mesh armor top, carefully removing it. It also seemed to serve as a bustier. For second Tenten blushed at seeing Mei's body, then took her kunai and began cutting off Mei's hair. It came off in large handfuls below the shoulder. Above it was cut unevenly, close to the scalp with the occasional longer lock sticking out. Her bangs were sheared, so the "worthless old hag" brand stuck out. All the hair was piled on top of Mei's clothes, and Tenten looked at the bedside table again: there was still a jar of ink and some paper and a pen on it. Nodding, Tenten took the top sheet off the bed, and as quietly as she could began to cut it up. One half was laid alongside the edge of the bed and a bit under the edge, and the other half cut into two and balled up on top for a moment. Then going to the desk, Tenten began to craft explosive tags. She placed two over Mei's nipples, one on the small of her back, on each of her elbows, two on her stomach, and one on her left knee. Making a cut on the back of Mei's right thigh, Tenten held her hand under it and collected the blood. She took it and smeared it over Mei's face. Making two more explosive tags, Tenten attached them to the kunai, and got on the bed between Mei's legs. Working open the area, Tenten inserted the kunai handle first into Mei, making sure one exploding tag was on top of the kunai and the other beneath it. Tenten sighed, and got up to fetch the ink and pen. The long section of sheet was smoothed out, and Tenten began writing a large exploding tag on it, the kind she had designed to draw in energy from the bones of the earth for power. Two more of the same kind were made from the other half of the sheet to go across the foot of the bed. Tenten shivered, then stood. There was one sheet of paper left, and she wrote on it: "The Sun Bird sings the Call of Heaven." Then her petty side swiftly rose up, and Tenten added, "P.S. the Raikage sucks cock lulz"

Getting a sense of the area by feeling with the earth's skin, Tenten sighed in relief and walked out of the tent. Knowing what some smart ninja would try upon seeing the inside, she raised an earthen wall on the right side of the tent and another one to form an L shape. Someone probably heard that. As fast as she could Tenten jumped and flew away, going full speed out of the camp. Once away she turned around to get her directions, seeing the mountain and the lake in the distance. There's only one place I can go now... Tenten turned around and resumed her high speed flight, going North-East. "I know who I am now, Neji..." On and on she flew, and on the occasions she forgot how she was flying and started to sink she touched down in the forest and placed her Flying Thunder God Jutsu seal on a tree before setting off again. All through the night she flew, and as the sun came up her determination grew and she flew faster and faster, the burning feeling in her heart fueling her flight. As the sun edged higher into the sky Tenten's velocity increased, the wind wildly whipping around her hair and clothes. At last, the mountain range was in sight. Soaring upwards she began to scan the rocky hills for any signs of life. A short minute later and she was over the mountains, the mists partially obscuring the view. She did, however, catch sight of a building. That was all she needed, and Tenten descended onto the mountain to get a view and rest.

I'm on the eastern side... It's a good size village, but it's scattered out among the mountains... but I think I should be able to do it. Searching for the bones of the earth beneath the mountain, and was startled to find the energies densely pooled up beneath the village. Focus, and draw it in... breathe, and balance it. Focus the surge into the veins... all the way! Flesh, skin and bones! Tenten put together the three hand seals, and shouted, "Earthquake Slam!" With a deep rumble the mountains and hills began crumble and twist appart, the village of Kumo spiraling in on itself and grinding to pieces. Loud crashes and screams echoed up to Tenten, but she continued executing the jutsu until those echoes died out. Immediately she felt the drain, like she had run for a whole day and night and then got sucker punched as she was gasping for air. She grew light-headed and her vision started to dim as she desperately sucked in air. Shaking now, she felt for the bones and panicked when she couldn't find them. Gritting her teeth she put all her willpower into finding the veins of energy, and pulled up a thread and absorbed it into her body. Her vision cleared and her mind settled down, and it seemed her lungs were finally able to hold air. After a handful of minutes the shaking ceased, and Tenten stopped hyperventilating. Several more minutes later Tenten had caught her breath, and worked up the courage to look down.

In front of her was a vast cauldron of rubble, a haze of dust hanging low over the destruction. Tenten's gut clenched, and she vomited into her lap, her throat so tight she almost choked on her bile for a moment. That last bit squirted out, and she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I'm just like him now, aren't I...?" No. I'm worse... and I'll do worse before I'm done. Tenten wiped the vomit onto the ground, and stood. Though perhaps the western side of the village was untouched, nothing she could see was intact. Lazily floating up and flying out to the southern edge of Kumo, she found the gates on the path into the village were still whole. Focusing her chakra to her fingertip, she used the Seal Carving Technique to engrave on one: "Welcome Home." Tenten leaned on the gate for a minute, then warped away.

c=={=======

Shiho adjusted the bag of groceries, and walked up the flight of steps. Now that Kakashi was busy, she was the only one from their little group that had any free time to come by. The door to the apartment was locked, but that didn't stop her. Using her chakra Shiho unlocked it, and she opened the door into the apartment. "I'm home," She sang. Wait, home? With a guilty smile Shiho carried the groceries into the kitchen and set them on the counter. The milk- which never seemed to last long- went into the refigerator, as did the lettuce and the new jar of lemon marmalade. The bread, cheese and sandwich meat stayed out, as they were about to be used in a sandwich. Shiho got out one of Tenten's brown plates and a knife, and sliced a couple strips of the cheddar(she couldn't stand the Colby cheese Tenten liked). The rest of the sandwich was stacked together quickly and cut in half diagonally from right to left, as Shiho always cut her sandwiches. Mmm, beef and cheddar... Shiho put up the cheese and sliced beef while eating the right half(which she always ate first) of her sandwich, which she held in her mouth as she twisted the bread bag closed and folded it under the loaf.

Check in there real quick, then sit back and watch Downton Abbey. Shiho licked a stray crumb from her lip, and opened the door to Tenten's room. "AH!" Tenten was facedown on the bed, dirty and wearing a Kumo flak jacket. "Tenten! Tenten!" Shiho rushed over, tossing her plate down on the bedside desk and turning Tenten onto her back. "Wake up, please! Here-" Shiho grabbed half of her sandwich and waved it in front of Tenten's nose. "Food! Wake up!"

Her eyes blinked, and Tenten squinted at the light. "Shiho...? That's right, home..."

"What happened?!"

Where do I start? "I was summoned by Kawatatsu. The Kiri and Kumo ninja were nearby, and I snuck into their camp and trained with them. Then I flew to Kumo, and attacked it..."

Did she say fly? She must be hallucinating. "You look terrible. Once you finish the sandwich I'll help you over to the hospital, okay?"

Tenten weakly nodded, and accepted the left half of the sandwich. She took a bite, and asked, "Shiho, what do you think of Pain? The ninja."

"Well, when I think of him the word that comes to mind is tragic. He was a great leader, a god amongst his people- but he lost sight of the goal he started with, and couldn't stay true to his dream of peace." Shiho tilted her head and looked at Tenten, who had closed her eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"Just interested in how you remembered him... Shiho, I need to talk with Lady Tsunade. There's something I have to tell her."

Shiho hesitated for a moment, seeing how tired Tenten looked and sounded. "...You'll see her soon. Know what, do you think you could finish the sandwich on the way? I really want to get you to the hospital."

Tenten nodded slightly, and swallowed. "Help me up?" Shiho obliged Tenten, and gave her a shoulder to lean on. They slowly made their way out of the apartment and down to the street, Tenten earning bewildered stares from the ninja that passed by. Shiho stood up a little taller, and pulled Tenten in a bit closer to her. "...What's been going on while I was gone?"

"There's been a lot of rumors flying around about Kumo attacking, and the identity of Taiyocho. Hinata hasn't left the Hyuga estate since you vanished." Shiho looked around, then leaned in to whisper, "And there's been an ANBU Black Ops unit watching your house. As far as I know they haven't touched anything inside."

"...Luckily I had the only thing I didn't want touched with me."

"Hmm?"

"This katana," Tenten said looking over her shoulder. "They were probably looking for it... and you were in my house?"

"Yes." Shiho admitted. "I was checking to see if you were there. Besides, I still know a few things about sneaking into places," She added.

"...Wouldn't the ANBU unit have arrested me if they were watching my house?"

"No, their orders were just to report your presence to Tsunade."

"Huh. Shiho, when I'm done resting up at the hospital I'm just going to teleport out and get started on doing what I was talking about before I left with Hinata. I have a feeling Kumo and Kiri are going to make their move soon."

"How soon?"

"As soon as they find out what I did to Kumo... so that gives us at most a week or so to prepare. Have you had a chance to talk to Kakashi?"

"No, he got assigned to the unit watching your house."

"...I guess I'm not the only one who's been hiding something." Shiho smirked, and behind the girl's thick glasses Tenten saw her wink. "Know a few things about sneaking into places..." That's an understatment if I ever heard one. They rounded the corner, and found two ANBU waiting for them: one with a familiar mop of silver hair, the other one with short and spiky brown hair, with their face concealed by a Boar mask.

"Going somewhere?" Asked the Boar masked ANBU.

"The hospital," Tenten answered.

"What's wrong?" Asked Kakashi.

"Chakra exhaustion, and some bumps and bruises. Nothing major."

"Hmm." Kakashi and the other ANBU moved to either side of Shiho and Tenten, and began walking with them. "You might want to take off that flak jacket..."

"What does it matter now? One way or another I'm dead by this time next week."

"And that's part of the problem," Said the Boar masked ANBU.

"You mind if I tell her, or should we wait?" Shiho asked.

"Wait," Kakashi said immediately. Shiho frowned but didn't say anything.

After a few minutes of silence, Tenten asked, "So who else knows?"

"The Lady Hokage, and most likely her assistant, as well. No one else suspects you." Tenten looked at the Boar masked ANBU; there was something familiar about his voice.

"I'm really tired, guys... I'm going to go on and fly over." Tenten shrugged off Shiho, then jumped and soared away. Kakashi and Yamato looked at each other, then ran off to follow. Shiho sighed and caught up with them, jumping and running along over the rooftops.

"When did she learn to fly?" Kakashi wondered.

"Probably while she was away," Answered Shiho. "And for the record I think we should tell her about the squad..."

"That can wait, as it won't matter one bit until this mess gets cleaned up. And who knows? Maybe the impossible will happen, and she'll come out of this in one piece- think about what that would do for it."

"Good point, but everyone else has been informed they were selected." Kakashi didn't say anything to this, and hurried to meet Tenten at the doors of the hospital. Tenten sat down against the wall for a moment, breathing heavily. Shiho helped her up, and they walked in. The other two ANBU were waiting for them, and one wearing a cat mask spoke.

"Room four thirty-two B. What's her condition?"

"Chakra, and I guess just overall exaustion," Tenten said.

"From what, may I ask?"

"...Flying and using a jutsu." Tenten said no more as she was escorted up to the room, pointedly ignoring the stares sent her way. An elevator ride and a long hallway later, and Tenten came to room four thirty-two b. There didn't appear to be anything special about it, until she walked in.

"I should've realized it was you sooner," Tsunade said. Tenten nodded and slipped off her open-toed boots, and hopped onto the bed. "Why did you disappear right in the middle of the meeting?"

"Kawatatsu summoned me to his cave. The army was in the area, training..."

"Did you get a look at the size?"

"Briefly. I'd say it's at least as big as the one that came through the pass a couple weeks ago."

Tsunade frowned, and continued running the diagnostic on Tenten. She removed the bandages on her hands and examined them briefly, before using the Mystical Palm jutsu on them. "Naruto's been teaching you the Rasengan?"

Tenten smiled. "Uh-huh. He's actually a great teacher..." Speaking of learning new jutsu... "I practiced it for a while after Kawatatsu summoned me, and that's what messed up my hands. And... since I didn't want to come back here for ointement, I infiltrated the camp to get some."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, and finished up with the Mystical Palm jutsu. "Did you find anything besides what you were looking for?"

"I trained with them, and found out they have ceramic shuriken. They're pretty fast and light, but it seemed like everyone had trouble adjusting their aim with them. The other thing-" That I'll be telling you about... "-is that there's a new jutsu the Mizukage... perfected, that's spread among their Fire Release users."

"New jutsu popping up everywhere," Tsunade said under her breath. "How do they use it?"

"It's two hand seals- Snake and Tiger- and then a clap, and it sends out a shockwave of flames around the user. It's mostly for keeping someone from approaching."

"I'll keep that in mind," Nodded Tsunade. She settled back into a bedside chair, and looked at Tenten. "This is a really difficult situation, Tenten. You're a very valuable ninja to Konoha, but I can't let attacking the treaty scroll relay teams go-"

"I was defending myself. That's all I was doing out there."

"Someone has to pay for it, Tenten."

"I will." Tenten looked Tsunade square in the eye, and continued. "I'll pay for it by doing to Kumo and Kiri what I've done every time they've sent ninja after me: fighting them off by myself. If I fail then everyone can go home happy, but if I survive I want this off my record." She looked around the room at Shiho and the ANBU, eyes settling on Kakashi for a moment. "I will be the only ninja they see defending Konoha."

Tsunade continued the stare for a long moment. "Is that really what you want?"

"Yes."

"Alright, then you'll fight this war by yourself." Tsunade stood and walked out, motioning for the ANBU to follow her. Shiho waited for the others to leave, then approached Tenten. She pulled a scroll from her jacket, and handed it over. Tenten opened it, and read.

"Lady Tsunade,

In my recent correspondence with our neighbors to the North, the Tsuchikage has expressed an interest in aiding your search for the ninja who attacked the treaty scroll teams, chiefly by supplying his ninja to the Hunter Squad and having said squad search for them. He may already have sent a letter to you saying something to this effect, but I suspect he will have dispatched a team of ninja to do so, who will also closely watch your village for other unrelated reasons, without notifying you.

My village's aid will be available per request, as we wish to continue building strong bonds between the hidden villages of the Five Great Nations. Due to the recent happenings surrounding the registry and the treaty scroll, I would also like to suggest moving up the training schedule for the Hunter Squad, so that they may begin working right away. Kusa has also expressed interest in this proposal, and we await a response from you.

Kindest Regards,

Gaara of the Funk.

P.S. Not really "of the funk", Kankuro said I should lighten up so it was intended as a joke. "...I don't know if you stole this or decoded it, but you need to burn it."

"Decoded copy," Shiho assured Tenten. "Your thoughts?"

"Just keep an eye on the North-West," Said Tenten, throwing her hands up. "Or something. I don't know. I have too many places I need to be in at the same time right now..."

"Well," Shiho began, clearly enthused to share her own idea, "How about I secretly hire a genin team to take some kunai marked with your Flying Thunder God seal out to the area? That way you'd be able to travel out there without taking the time to place the kunai yourself."

"Do it, and I'll pay you back." Tenten looked down at her knees for a second. "Once I get something to eat I'm going to head out and get started on setting up the exploding tag perimeter, so make sure their route is out of its way."

"What do you want me to tell Kakashi?"

"That I am the only ninja Kiri and Kumo will see defending Konoha." Shiho slowly began to smile, then nodded and left the room.

c=={=======

Tenten placed the bark back over the exploding tag. She had started the line before sunrise, her focus cool as the early morning air. Remove bark, place tag, repeat. However, her batch of prepared tags was running low and she was only about halfway done. Deciding to stop and fix another batch, Tenten unsealed her paper and ink and got to work. She had a fresh supply of unicorn jerky to nibble on, and the process went quickly, the seal being familiar to her now. Hmm. Draws in power from the bones, and has a magnetic trigger... incomplete, as Kawatatsu would say. But how would I work in something to use the ground? What would that do, anyways? Tenten finished the tag, then stopped to think. Probably just tear up the ground. But I guess together with an explosion that wouldn't be so pointless. Hmm, that jutsu I used against the Raikage and his ninja... I know certain strokes and characters correspond with certain hand seals, and I know the one for the Dragon seal- I use that in my Dragon Bomb traps. So, the one for the Snake seal should be similar. Aha, all ordered and compact, like this... and Ram, that one would be pointier. Curve like the Snake character starts, then goes up like this- and then like this... alright. Now where would I fit this in? Yes, right in the blank middle, curving around the edge. Okay. Practicing the "complete" exploding tag seal a couple times and then modifying the tags she'd been preparing, Tenten made up her mind and went back to the start of the line to modify the tags already in place. It was slow work, as she couldn't remember right away which trees had a tag atached. It took the rest of the morning and part of the way into the afternoon before Tenten made it back to where she'd stopped, where she again took the time to create more tags. When evening came around she had finally finished the line, and marked it out on the map she'd brought.

"One down, one to go." If that's how many tags it took, the second line's gonna have to be shorter. I still want to have some left to put on kunai. Tenten got her things together and flew well away towards the South-East, until the sun began to set. Some space was cleared under the low-hanging branches of a pine tree, her tent and for the moment nothing else set up there. Tenten was content to have unicorn jerky for dinner as she lounged in her tent, strategies and plans flying around inside her mind. ...Sharpen what I know... but what else could I use the earth and its bones and skin for? I know I can use them for the Rasengan, but what about the Flying Thunder God Jutsu? That's... that's a thought for another day... well what jutsu haven't I used them for... there's that one, which I guess would be useful, but that's it for the ones I normally use... Tenten got out another strip of unicorn jerky, savoring its sweet and juicy spiciness. Well what about ones I haven't used in a while... Tenten went deeper and deeper into her reportoire, back through the years until she first joined Team Guy. The only one I kinda remember is the Chakra Scalpel... what were they, Tiger, something something, Rat and Dog. Okay, think like you're Mei. It's supposed to refine and sharpen, so that's... Horse! And to refine it... no, no, no... ah, Rabbit! Tiger, Horse, Rabbit, Rat, Dog... Tenten repeated the sequence to herself as she rested, forming the hand seals as she did so...

She woke early, though little light was visible under the pine tree's boughs. With a drink of water and some light stretching, Tenten packed up and jumped, rising up and flying away full speed to the South. The hour's flight was spent theorizing how to enhance the Chakra Scalpel Technique, and remembering she was flying when she became preoccupied with her theory and started to fall. She settled on a definite idea for extending the range of her Chakra Scalpel, then focused on flying and put on a burst of speed, pushing her flight to its limit. She went faster and faster, using the thrill of flight to fuel her spirit and acceleration until she had to close her eyes against the rush of wind. Alright, let's get started. Slowing down and descending, Tenten faced North-West and landed, and unpacked her tags and kunai and got to work. After doing it all day yesterday she had the process down pat and setting up the line went relatively quickly- a little after midday, she was finished.

Easy part's over now. Time to get to work. Tenten jumped up and snapped off a tree limb the length of her arm, and tossed it on the ground. Draw in power from the bones... Tiger, Horse, Rabbit, Rat, Dog- Her hands cloaked in purple chakra, Tenten thrust down at the limb. She could barely tell that it had been cut, other than one part was sagging down a fraction of an inch. She nodded and took a few steps back, sharpening her chakra and aiming. With a sharp chop the limb was split, and Tenten took a long jump back, slicing off a section of the limb before she landed. Bones and skin... how do I work the flesh in? How can the earth be like a blade... hard, and focused. Harder, and sharper. Okay. Tenten let the jutsu fade, and formed the hand seals again. "Hah!" The chakra cloaking Tenten's hands was a crystalline purple, painfully beautiful. A fierce downwards chop split the branch, and a second chop swung sideways at a nearby tree almost imperceptibly made a cut. "Harder..." A slice from the other direction was swept through the tree and it seemed to have no effect until Tenten heard a heavy rustling of leaves from above. The trunk slowly began to tip, and then all of a sudden it came crashing down in front of her. Nodding, Tenten continued the practice, one tree, two trees, sometimes three trees cut through at once. But true to form, soon Tenten's stomach growled, and she stopped for lunch.

With the bowl of

soup eaten, dirt was kicked over the fire, and Tenten stood. Hmm, fire... Remembering Sara's comments on Fire Release, she went over the hand seals for the Call of the Heavens Jutsu. "Snake, Tiger, clap..." Closing her eyes, Tenten moulded her chakra, feeling it begin to warm her from within. "Call of the Heavens Jutsu!" There was a rustling of leaves, but upon opening her eyes Tenten didn't see anything scorched or burning. Hotter, then. Get angry, feel it! Snake, Tiger, clap- This time, to her surprise, there was a visible issuance of flames around her. It quickly died out. It felt hot enough, and there was a little bit of fire- ooh, better put that out- okay, so what does fire need? Oxygen, fuel. It'll have oxygen, so the fuel... has to be my chakra. That's it, it just needed more chakra. Yeesh. Earth Release doesn't take this much... another one! "Call of the Heavens Jutsu!" This time the ring of fire burst out from her full and strong, lasting until it faded yards away. There were a handful of small fires in the grass and undergrowth still burning, and she rushed to stomp them out before they could spread. One by one they were extinguished, until only one was left... and quickly spreading towards the last tree in the explosive tag line. Racing around Tenten hastily used the Earth Shaking Palm jutsu to smother it, and breathed a sigh of relief. If it had set off the explosive tag there would be no escaping the blast.

At this point, Tenten heard an animal approaching through the bushes. "Boss, I found 'em!" Emerging from the brush was a ninken, and soon appearing at it's side was Kakashi.

"How'd you make it past the explosive tag perimeter?!"

"You've got it set up already?" Tenten nodded, pointing over to her left.

"Guess I got lucky and avoided it," Kakashi said with a shrug. "So. If you're going to be the only ninja they see defending Konoha, I'd like to know a little bit about how."

"The exploding tag lines will be the most important part. By the time Kumo and Kiri come around they'll have collected enough power from the bones to blow a nice sized hole in their forces. I'm planning to keep a close eye on the areas, and if their columns aren't heading towards them I'll try to prod them in the right direction."

"Phase two?"

"Do a little work with my katana, maybe use a few jutsu here and there."

"That's it?"

"I figure if I can run through them fast enough while they're still reeling I'll force them to retreat."

"That might have worked before, and might work to a certain extent again, but think of the numbers. What will you do when they regroup and move in?"

"I'll... summon Kawatatsu to help?"

"And then?"

"I don't know!"

"That's where your 'clone' will come in." Kakashi did his eye smile, his tone of voice friendly. "What are some of the jutsu they're used seeing from you?"

"I use Earthquake Slam and Falling Earth Spears the most, but I've been learning a lot lately..."

"That's always good to hear."

"Aha! Do you remember that new jutsu I told Tsunade about? I was thinking I might pop up in their ranks and use it." Kakashi raised an eyebrow, and Tenten smiled proudly before hopping away. "Watch and learn, old fart." Snake, Tiger, clap! "Fire Style: Call of the Heavens Jutsu!"The circle of flames whooshed out, stopping just short of Kakashi.

"Hmm..."

"What...?"

"Well, remember with fire jutsu if you just pour your chakra into it you'll burn out in a hurry. For most jutsu it's better to use a short burst to start and feed in a smaller, sustained amount for the rest." Kakashi saw the look on Tenten's face, and waved away the comment, and said, "How you did it is fine for that jutsu, it's what it was designed for. Here, let me show you what I'm talking about." Making the necessary hand seals, Kakashi blew out a globe of fire that trailed off into a smaller stream of flames. "See? I could have blown out a giant stream of fire, but that would've wasted my chakra. After the initial contact of the jutsu I'm not going to need to put in as much. Got it?"

"I think so."

"Snake, Tiger. Go." Tenten nodded, and on her first try got the technique right. Kakashi gave a brief golf clap, then looked beyond Tenten into the forest. "Any other new jutsu you'd like to share...?"

Where do I start? "First would be flying, and then after that would be-" Before she could finish the sentence, Tenten vanished.

c=={=======

"-The cha... Kawatatsu, sir? What is it?"

"They have grown restless," He said, looking out of the cave far away. "They fight amongst themselves."

"...Have you heard any explosions?"

"No, the land has stayed quiet." Kawatatsu eyed the mix of emotions playing out over Tenten's face, how her eyes burned with fire. "Your spirit has grown stronger, young Tenten. Now the time has come for you to strengthen your body, as well."

"Sir, they're probably only a few days away from marching on Konoha. I don't know how I could get physically stronger that fast, or how strong I would be if I could..."

Kawatatsu let out a rumbling sigh, and looked out towards the spike hills again. "...Far in the past, before the old days of the Great Sage, were the Great Tree and the bones of the earth. The Great Tree drew its power from the bones, spurring the growth of its majestic spirit and body. And have I not already taught you to do likewise? As your spirit reaches upwards to fly, your flesh may draw strength from the bones of the earth, through meditation and in action. This is the way of the dragons, and the way I will instruct you in."

Tenten stared at the ground thinking about this for a moment. "Kawatatsu, sir, why are you teaching me these things?"

Kawatatsu turned to her, the mysterious wisdom in his eyes simplifying into something much more recognizable. "I am old, very old, Tenten. Had the Kumo not sealed me away, I would have returned to the earth during Nakamura's lifetime... As the teachings of the Great Sage spread, his disciples began to hunt down my kind, until we hid ourselves away deep in the mountains and lakes and deserts. Then, slowly, we succumbed to age, returning to the earth. I am the last of the dragons, Tenten. And it is my will that there should always be a dragon in the wild." Tenten closed her eyes and bowed low before Kawatatsu, but he straightened her up with a claw. "Fear not, young Tenten, for I still have life left in me. I swear shall make war on your side and defend your home as if it were this mountain. Now come, fly with me down to the hills." Tenten flew alongside Kawatatsu, floating down the mountainside until they came to the grassy foothills. "When you strike a target with your fist, what is your goal?"

"To hit it."

"And what becomes of your motion afterwards?"

"...It stops, I guess. I might shift my weight for another attack."

"Ah. You see, you fight in instants. A single moment may change things greatly, and yet it may be seen coming and prepared for, entirely averted without effecting anything. Power is most effective when it flows, when even if it is interrupted it still carries on, wearing down the object in its path. So you must flow, your strikes being as the leaves and sticks tossed in the current of a river. Do you understand this?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then fortify yourself with strength from the bones of the earth, and we shall duel."

Gulping nervously, Tenten nodded. I'm going to need more than that to duel with him. Time to put that version of the Iron Skin jutsu to the test. Earth, skin, and bones... "Hah!" Tenten's "complete" Iron Skin jutsu took effect, turning her skin the same dark shade of brown as Kawatatsu's scales. The power of the bones of the earth swam below her skin, energizing her muscles. Pull in more, balance it... "...Okay, I'm ready!" As expected Kawatatsu rushed in immediately. Tenten found she was able to dodge, slipping off to the side and darting in for a kick. Kawatatsu quickly clawed at her and she had to jump off of him upwards to avoid it. However, doing that brought her in range of his jaws. After a brief moment of panic Tenten flew out of reach. She flew in full speed and nailed him with her hardest kick right between his eyes, only for him to send her stumbling down his back after hitting her with his trunk. Kawatatsu lifted up into the air, twisting and throwing Tenten off his back then curling around to slash at her. She narrowly avoided his claws and flew in for another sharp kick but Kawatatsu slammed her away high into the air.

Looking down on him, Tenten decided to use a jutsu. She worked up her chakra, feeling it heat up into an inferno. The Fireball Jutsu was blown out right on target, but with a trumpeting roar Kawatatsu blew it right back at her! She couldn't avoid the sudden reversal, and crossed her arms to block it from her face. It was hotter than anything Tenten had ever felt before, hotter than the explosions and fire jutsu she'd had contact with by far. To make matters worse she was clawed down to the ground just as the cloud of fire dispersed. Kawatatsu followed her down and pinned her underneath his claw. "Tell me, what did you learn from that duel, young Tenten?"

"Not to launch fire jutsu at you from close range..."

"And what else?"

"You... were always on the move."

"Yes, very good. Do you see? Stopping to prepare an attack halts your flow. You struck well but you must learn to flow, using your path to empower your attacks. Come, and we will duel again." Tenten was sore and crisp form her Fireball Jutsu getting turned on her, but she had no choice, as Kawatatsu reared up to stomp her. She rolled out of the way and prepared to twist, focusing her power in her legs. "Leaf Dragon God!" The kick stirred up the air into a dragon-like tornado that roared towards Kawatatsu and connected with the underside of his jaw, forcing him up into the air. Tenten sprang after him, hitting with a flying side kick and twisting around for another. She pushed off with the last kick and flew off to the side under his leg, drifting into a thrust kick with the ball of her foot that pushed her up to his back. Kawatatsu twisted around and caught her with a claw swipe, sending her skidding down his side. Focusing for a second Tenten formed a Rasengan, only to look up and see Kawatatsu launching a blast of water at her from his trunk. She evaded with a quick burst of flight down beneath it and slammed her Rasengan into his underside. It actually managed to knock him back a short ways, but that brought Tenten in a place to be swiftly grabbed in his claws. He set her down gently, and looked into her eyes. "Better, but forming that jutsu you used slowed your flow."

"Kawatatsu, sir, I need a moment to rest..."

"Very well. We will use the time to meditate; focus on drawing in the power of the bones of the earth into your body."

"Yes." Tenten bowed and then sat down into the Lotus position, hands on her knees. Flying takes my spirit, my Yin energy, so I need to my Yang to do what he's talking about, I think... Tenten exhaled slowly and began to empty her mind, calming her breaths and trying not to flinch when the wind blew on her skin that was still sensitive from being burned. In and out she calmly breathed, and soon she began to draw up energy from the bones of the earth. Her focus heightened with the meditation, she slowly and experimentally harmonized it with her physical energy. It worked, surprisingly. Gently, she took in more. She began to heat up as if she had been exercising for a long time. The warmth spread through her whole body, and Tenten drew in still more energy from the bones. Her skin tingled and the ache from her burns began to fade from her mind. Still she absorbed power from the bones, and felt herself... awaken. She fought the feeling for a moment, then gave in, gaining a sense of elated clarity. Soon after her other senses sharpened- she could hear each blade of grass around her rustling in the breeze, smell the scent of her sweat and even smell Kawatatsu, which she normally couldn't do. The chirping of a passing song bird was bright and crystal clear. Tenten opened her eyes, at peace.

"Well done, but continue and remain focused." Tenten grinned sheepishly and closed her eyes again.

In the evening, Tenten was in her tent lying down on her stomach, studying the Flying Thunder God Jutsu. A linking between two points, a kind of transportation to a fixed place... And the Substitution Jutsu switches with a physical object... what's the next step? How could I increase the range around a fixed point, or switch with an empty space... no think backwards, from the top down. Teleporting to a place, what makes that work, break down the theory... wait. Backwards... Tenten got out blank paper and her ink and started writing. The same seal won't work, it's oriented for one direction... I need something to redirect the focus. The Kun trigam receives the energy, so... the Qian would disperse it. Still not quite right. It's supposedly to a single point, so... invert it! There. Then the Kun trigram... invert that, too. Drawing the chakra from me, transmitting it to a single point. Hmm. If it's drawing from me, would it transport it, or use all of it to teleport? Hrmm... so what would I add to draw in outside energy... duh. Tenten drew the new seal and set down the pen. She looked at the new seal, and as before it seemed right, and complete. Clearing her mind, she pulled up her pants leg and worked up her chakra. Firmly grasping the inside of her left shin, Tenten applied the seal tattoo to it. The two trigrams were on opposite sides of the circle, and the script that drew in energy from the bones of the earth formed smaller triangles that sat on the circle between the trigrams. That's straight up sexy. A shame it'll never be noticed often... Tenten nodded, and let her pants leg fall back down. Time to practice.

c=={=======

"You seek to emulate the Tailed Beasts?"

"AH! I didn't hear you coming. And... what do you mean by emulate the Tailed Beasts? I thought Naruto's father invented the Rasengan."

"It is the manner in which they form their balls, by tightly concentrating their chakra. Is this not what you are doing?"

"Yes. I've been trying to strengthen it with the flesh and skin of the earth, but so far I can only work in the bones..."

"You must not think of them as separate states, young Tenten. Would you say your thumb is separate from your hand?"

"No, of course not."

"They will naturally find their harmony when you bring them together. Now, let me see you use this jutsu again."

Tenten exhaled and began working up earth chakra within her, taking in power from the Dragon Veins and pulling everything together with the earth's magnetic force. Draw it out... one flow, magma and core and crust... With a thrust of effort the speed increased, but it spun out of control into a dust storm when Tenten tried to split the up the flow. The force knocked her onto the ground, and she had to spit dirt out of her mouth. Spitting again, she stood and rubbed the grit out of her eyes. A second Rasengan was started, dust drifting up and orbiting around it. "Harder...!" Split, one direction... A hum started to emanate from the Rasengan, a low sound that was almost like a heartbeat. As the speed increased the hum got louder and the dust and dirt started to settle into rings. The Rasengan was a deep purple, nearly black, and it sparkled like the night sky. Shaking, Tenten tensed up and yelled, the Rasengan stabilizing with a flash. Not waiting another moment she slammed it into the ground, the earth shaking and flying apart in a whirlwind around her and Kawatatsu. "Agh..." How did Naruto not constantly pass out when he learned the Rasen-Shuriken, this is just awful... The headache brought on by the immense amount of concentration was horrendous, and despite taking in power from the Dragon Veins it was a strain on her chakra reserves, as well. I don't know if I'll ever have to use this- and I hope I don't- but I need to have it ready just in case... Tenten jumped out of the crater of rubble to farther down beside the dam, and began another earth style Rasengan. Misty darkness crept in on the edges of her sight as she grunted and stabilized the sphere, and her headache mirrored the shaking and swirling upheaval of the ground around her. She rested on her hands and knees in the crater, panting and mentally exhausted. What if I'm feeling like this, and the Rasengan is the only way to end the fight? Drawing in three deep breaths, she stood. Forming the Rasengan sent waves of pain bursting back from her eyes, and as the dust began coming together in rings around it the darkness covered her vision like a blanket pulled over her head...

Tenten awoke surrounded by darkness. The headache was still there, though mercifully not as severe as it had been. "Kawatatsu?" The darkness shifted, and Kawatatsu's head appeared.

"I have carried you to my cave. It is evening now."

Tenten sat and thought for a moment. "...I think I'm going to head to their camp again, and see if I can find out when they're leaving for Konoha."

"Act wisely, young Tenten. Their hatred is great." Nodding, Tenten stood unsealed a normal katana from one of her scrolls, swapping it for her black one. Kawatatsu rose to let her pass, and she she flew out from the cave.

Rations station was in the North-West quarter, so touch down out there... After a couple minutes of flight Tenten came in sight of the camp and teleported down to beyond the northern edge in the forest. Using the Transformation Jutsu to become "Amane", Tenten joined the line and shuffled along. The grief and anger were so thick in the air Tenten swore she could smell it. Or perhaps that was just the field rations.

"How'd you get out of going back to Kumo to bury the bodies?"

Tenten answered the unfamiliar voice without turning around. "I ran into the woods and cried..."

"Well, you're not the only one," The man said. "Things have been really tense the last few days."

"How's the Raikage been?"

"Pretty much the only thing he's said to anyone was to get a unit back to Kumo. Honestly, I wouldn't want to go near him to find out anything more than that." Tenten glanced over her shoulder, and saw the ninja had a reliable, trustworthy round face and light brown hair. He wore a Kiri forehead protector bandanna style, and had a short beard. "And for a while no one wanted to go near Lady Terumi, either."

"I'd heard something had happened to her..."

"It was disgusting and obscene; I'll just say there were a few exploding tags involved. It was a bitch and a half to disarm them, and that's not even counting the poison. Lady Terumi just came out of the coma earlier this afternoon."

"That sounds awful..."

"It was. When Gozu and Makina told her what had happened her Killing Intent knocked out everyone within fifty feet."

Tenten shivered. "I just want to get out of this place, it feels cursed. I think I even heard some strange roar from the South the other day..."

The Kiri ninja looked around the line before replying. "I'm not sure on this, but rumor has it we'll be leaving once the Raikage gets back from Kumo. Given what happened it's probably going to be around a fortnight before they return." Tenten nodded, and at last the food station approached, and she again got double rations and a canteen of water. Subconsciously she drifted to where she had sat last time, finding someone already there. She sat on on the log to their right, and got started on activating the FRH's in her rations.

"Oh, you're back!" It was Sara, whose face appeared much younger in its current state of surprise.

"I came back into camp earlier today..." Tenten sighed as she poured the water into the ration heaters. "It seems like things just keep getting worse here..."

"They have. If you can believe it some of the Kiri even blame us for what happened to the Mizukage."

"Yeah, and how do we know some of their ninja didn't go behind our backs and attack Kumo?"

"We don't," Sara spat out. "But if I've learned anything these last few weeks it's that Tenten can show up anywhere unannounced."

"Do you really think she's come back? She's been gone for a while."

"Well," Sara said, taking a bite of stir-fry, "I don't know if she's here in the pass but she definitely knows we're here. No one I know of does exploding tags like the ones that were found on the Mizukage, and besides that there was a note on the desk in her tent, something like 'the sunbird sings the call of Heaven'."

"...So if she knows about that new jutsu, she probably knows about our other tactics as well. We're gonna have to change everything."

"Precisely. The Mizukage and Darui have put together the new night exercises we'll be doing later."

"Uggh, I hate those. We barely get to sleep out here, and a girl can only take sleeping on a mat for so long..."

"Mm-hmm, second that. But all the same, I think it's good experience for all the younger ninja. Most of our new chunin missed the fourth war, and most of what they've done so far is rebuilding." The silence breathed down Tenten's neck, whispering accusations in her ear.

"I've been thinking about that, rebuilding. If Tenten attacked Kumo, then she probably knows what we plan to do to Konoha..."

"Eye for an eye, and the whole world goes blind. That's just how it works, Amane." Tenten nodded, and tapped her foot as she waited for her field rations to heat. She had gotten the pork chops again. She decided she didn't want to wait for them to steam, and pulled them out. They sizzled faintly. "So what did you do while you were away?"

"I did some training on my own. I learned the Call of the Heavens Jutsu." Sara smiled, and Tenten continued. "But I always fall back on taijutsu when I need to clear my mind, so that's mainly what I did."

"Hmm. You can fly, and are comfortable with taijutsu... you know, someone like you would have the best chance of beating Tenten."

"Aha! I don't know about that..."

"No, really. By flying you could avoid her earth jutsu and close the gap on her. She's been untested at close range, and ninja who rely on using jutsu from a distance usually aren't so great close quarters."

"Well, if she could knock out Darui and the Mizukage she sounds like she knows her taijutsu to me," Tenten shrugged. "I mean, I'm okay, I guess, but I'm nothing special in that area."

"Why don't we head out to the training area after we're done eating to work out for a little bit? Nothing too intense, just get to know each other's styles."

"...Alright." Won't hurt to see how a veteran Kumo ninja fights. "I'll just finish these real quick and stretch a little bit." Tenten ate her field rations quickly, only this time it was to avoid chewing the tasteless food for too long.

Sara shook her head. "You eat too fast."

"I think of it as speeding up the digestion process," Said Tenten as she stood to loosen her shoulders. Sara chuckled, and Tenten followed her to toss away the empty ration packs. The training area was the southern end of the camp, a section of forest now littered with craters and fallen trees, kunai and shuriken scattered everywhere. "Is here fine?" Asked Tenten, stopping in one of the larger craters. Sara nodded, and Tenten flew forwards. The elder kunoichi slipped to the side, but caught a kick unexpected, Tenten twisting around for a low sweep, continuing her spin into an axe kick. This effort was blocked, and Tenten used the momentum to flip over into a stomp, which was not blocked.

"Damn! Okay, hold up!" Sara rose and dusted herself off. "Nothing special, huh?" Sara smirked, and motioned Tenten forwards. Though she was now prepared, Sara still found it difficult to avoid Tenten's flowing offense. The vigorous clawing strike and leaps of her normal style were mostly avoided, her flickering kicks out of range. She began to adapt, rotating into a counter after a slash missed or spinning back with a swipe when a thrusting kick hit air. Though Sara forced several blocks, Tenten slowly sped up and began throwing in two strikes instead of one. Counting on taking a hit, Sara got an overhook after a punch to her shoulder and shot her fist forwards to Tenten's stomach. No sooner than she had done so Tenten vanished and there was a blade across her throat. "...I didn't even see you move that time. You're pretty fast, Amane."

Tenten nodded, and sheathed her katana. "It seems like my old team ran more than anything else. I was always running to catch up."

"Ha, well I'd say all that running's paid off. If you don't mind me asking, what style were you using just now? I don't know if I've seen something like it before."

"It's... Dragon Style."

"It's an odd variant, then."

"My teacher bases it around the concept of flowing, an uniterrupted current of motion. He really stresses not fighting in instants."

"I'd like to meet him someday. He raised an interesting pupil." Tenten smiled, and then the two leapt towards each other...

c=={=======

Twilight had come and gone. Units One and Three of the joint army were heading out West, to the night exercise training area. "Halt!" The Mizukage called. "Tonight we'll be training to scale and fight around a wall. Though they will likely intercept us in the forest, this isn't something we've gone over, and it is the most important part of the assault. We will be doing this with no shuriken or katanas, and unless you have a technique that can go through their wall, no jutsu, either. We will be training two scenarios: first, where the nina of Konoha behind the wall know we are coming and are prepared for the attack. Second, where they are not aware of our approach. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"I wonder how they'll assign the units this time..." Tenten glanced over to see the ninja who'd thought out loud.

"Hopefully not like they have so far, that's just slowed down our coherence."

"Well ya know what, some of us Kumo ninja don't like you goody two shoes ninja from Kiri. I like how they've done it just fine."

"We've just been fighting against each other, in and out of drills!" The short kunoichi replied. "There's only one person we need to focus on right now."

Darui was trading whispers with the Mizukage, and looked up. He raised his arm and spoke. "Those to my left, you will form the Konoha unit for the first drill." Tenten looked around: she was in the middle, but she supposed she would split left.

The Mizukage cleared her throat. "Are there any volunteers for the role of Tenten tonight?" The units went silent, and Tenten swore she could hear someone whistling the tune of Margaritaville. "...Then I'll pick them myself." Mei walked forwards, and the unit parted before her, forming a pathway to Tenten. "Amane, isn't it?"

"Yes, Lady Mizukage." Tenten bowed and followed Mei, winding through the forest.

"You're free to do as you please, Amane, aside from intentionally fatal blows. I need you to be strong and not hold anything back."

"...I'll do my best." In a handful of minutes they reached the wall: it was as high as the actual Konoha wall, and stretched out of sight into the forest. The trees had been cleared away in front of it and only the occasional stump and bush popped up.

"Darui will be along with your unit soon. I'll see you in a few minutes, Amane." Mei smiled and turned away, leaping into the forest.

Guess I'll get ready on top of the wall... Tenten glided up and knelt down on the earthen wall, gathering energy from the bones of the earth and balancing it with her chakra. As she opened her eyes Darui and the unit approached, and floated down to meet them. "Darui, sir."

"Yes?"

"I'll use a jutsu as a signal when they approach... I'd like everyone behind the wall, and I'll be on top." Darui quietly nodded, and led the unit around. Tenten calmed and drew in more power from the bones, all the way up to her limit as she had done at Kumo. Refine and focus... Snake, Horse and Dragon... then Rat, Ram, and Tiger... Feeling for the other unit's approach with the magnetic force, the time seemed to stretch out, only to suddenly snap back as if none had passed when they neared. I don't know how far my range with this will be. She waited a few heartbeats longer then hovered up in the air and carefully strung together the hand seals. Hrraaaah! A jet of pale purple fire shot out of Tenten's mouth, ballooning into a globe of fire wider than the clearing in front of the wall and bursting open with a loud roar, the heat taking her breath away. Tenten let her "Amane" transformation fade and turned around to face the unit behind her.

"Amane, what are you doing?!"

"I'm doing what Tenten would do, Sara. Because I am her!" As she finished speaking Darui jumped and ran up the wall towards her. Tenten grimaced and teleported down to meet him, aiming a heavy slice at his good leg. The sudden attack connected and passed through, and before the limb hit the ground she had teleported in and out of the unit, cutting through necks as swiftly as she appeared and vanished. The ninja began to scatter, but Tenten cut down their retreat, until she heard a massive hissing noise from behind her. She reappeared on top of the wall, and saw the sea of steam in front of her, bright pale purple flames rising up in its middle.

"You will never get away with this!" Mei screamed, coming through the mist. "I will gut you from your fucking cunt to your head, piss on your grave, then dig you up and shit in your mouth!"

"Don't whine about an act of war when you're standing in front of me with an army," Tenten replied. "Oh wait, half an army. I have officially had it with this whole mess, Mei! I'm sick of being me, I'm sick of being Amane, and I'm especially sick of the people who think death is the only true justice in this world!" Warping down as the Mizukage blew a mist up at her, Tenten reappeared and cut down through Mei's right arm below the elbow, then fomed a Rasengan and slammed it into her back, knocking Mei towards the mist and the wall. Tenten couldn't see the remainder of the unit through the steam and didn't care to go looking for them. Gritting her teeth she teleported into Kawatatsu's cave, then collapsed on the floor and curled into a ball, crying.

c=={=======

Kurotsuchi wished she could have flown out to Kusa, but Onoki had things to take care of in Iwa. "This will be a great honor! You still hope to take my place someday, do you not? Then this will only increase your standing with the village!" Always about the future and posterity with him... but if he wants the best, he'll get it from me. "Tenchi Bridge is up ahead, doubletime! We need to post up before sunset!" The Iwa ninja behind Kurotsuchi were already doubletiming, they were doing it just to keep sight of her. In moments Tenchi Bridge appeared and was crossed. Soon after they also crossed the border into the Land of Fire, the forest still as thick as it was in Kusa, though there were no giant mushrooms now. One member of the team, Hisao, looked through the canopy to check the sun. The branches obscured the orb, but by the angle of light and it's red-gold glow, he estimated it would be sunset in thirty minutes.

"We're in the Land of Fire now, why don't we set up camp?"

Kurotsuchi sighed. She was all for running until right before sunset, then quickly getting out their hammocks and snacking on the nutrient bars as they rested. "Fine. Let's stop here, it's as good a place as any." The Iwa team halted, then spread out to separate trees and unsealed their hammocks from their scrolls. They were made from a cloth with a bark and leaf pattern, and had a mesh lining that could be zipped up overhead to keep out nocturnal creatures.

"Set up a game trap?" Hisao asked, as he finished hanging his hammock.

"Not unless you can get Aoi to stay up and watch the area," Kurotsuchi called from her tree. "I don't want any signs of activity out for the Leaf ninja to pick up on. It'll just have to be the nutrient bars tonight, guys." The others had expected as much. While Kurotsuchi was known to be easygoing, and her drunken tirades at parties were the stuff of legends, when it came to being on a mission she drove hard and expected one hundred percent effort, especially if she was leading the mission. Hmm, speaking of checking the area... "Aoi, if you've got your hammock set up, could you scan the area?"

"Yeah, I'm on it." Aoi Aozora was the team's sensor type ninja, and one of the best Iwa had produced in years. Beyond the traditional chakra sensing technique, her clan passed down a special sensing jutsu that only a few ever learned. Calming her mind, Aoi settled down in her hammock and began to use the Chakra Sensing Technique. Her teammate's chakra was quickly picked up on, and expanding her reach outwards, she found nothing. Good. Forming the Bird hand seal, Aoi focused her chakra and used her clan's secret technique: "Hidden Technique: Sky Net!" Her chakra went up and spread into the wind, being carried over a wide area much farther than the normal chakra sensing technique reached. The jutsu also gave Aoi a vague sense of the landscape: more forest, with the occasional break in the trees that suggested a clearing, or a stream. "...The way ahead's clear, Captain."

"Excellent. Let's rest up and continue out to the mark before dawn." Aoi nodded, and sank back down into her hammock...

It was a dark morning, the moonless night taking long to evaporate. The team stayed silent on the run, their mission looming large in their minds. They were the ones chosen by Iwa for the Inter-Village Hunter Squad, rare talents in their chosen fields of expertise. Well, except for Kurotsuchi, but no one complained about her inclusion because of her overall competence and work ethic. There was Aoi, the first Aozoru sent to Iwa for training in many years, skilled in sensing jutsu and hand to hand combat; Hisao Fujiwara, a kenjutsu specialist and interrogator; and Haruto Nishimura, a stealth and tracking expert, and also a reliable hand with medical jutsu, as well.

Their destination was next to a stream in the North-West of the Land of Fire, about a day's hard run from Konoha. The stream outpost had been used before by Iwa; it's depth made the stream useful as a source of water for jutsu, and also it was reported that some spectacularly tasty fish could be caught in it. It was a fairly common place for rookie and blackballed Iwa ninja to be sent, somewhere comfortable and out of the way, and- most importantly- in enemy territory. Aoi knew that if people heard of her being sent here, they'd assume she wouldn't be coming back, not for months or perhaps ever. That was something she and the others had to accept as part of being named to the squad, and it weighed on her mind during the run. The Aozoru clan, not being native to Iwa, would again come under scrutiny despite their long-held position of neutrality. And that's why Lord Third's held his position so long. People think he's a cranky old man nowadays but he's the sharpest one of the current bunch. A flock of birds with one stone... Aoi ducked under the branch and sprang off the one beneath it, like a bird taking flight.

Hotaru glanced over at Aoi. He knew he was thinking of her clan's reputation, the way her hair was streaming behind her. Though they all were enthusiastic about being named to the squad, none of them were especially pleased about being sent to The Stream; they coud just have easily made use of a spot closer to Konoha. In fact, he thought the opposite side of the country would have been even better, so that they would be closer to the area of the incident, which Haruto suspected the ninja was still in. I don't want to set foot in Nakamura Pass, though. No sane ninja should. Really, I think the only reason we're out here would be because the Third suspects someone knows we're on the move and wants an eye on them. Probably not anyone East of Konoha, so it's likely either them or Suna. Hmm... they might be suspicious of the delay in Konoha getting them the scroll, and have a ninja in the area...

The location and possible target of the mission didn't bother Hisao. Like everyone, he knew Tenten was behind the first slaughter at Nakamura Pass, and that a great deal of traps were involved there. There would be no such advantage in the area of The Stream, and with a sensor like Aoi on their team they would know she was coming long before she knew they were coming for her. He was confident that if he could get in close, his skills in kenjutsu would be enough to subdue her. Then, he would make her talk. In the end, they all did.

At noon the small dinner caught up to them, and Kurotsuchi called for a lunch break after her stomach rumbled, mainly so Hisao wouldn't suggest it first. "Soup?" He asked.

Kurotsuchi nodded. She glanced over to Aoi, who then bowed and retreated a short distance to scan the area. "Hidden Technique: Sky Net..." The net was cast over the area, then slowly stretched to the East and South. Nothing out of the- what, what was that?! Fine tuning the jutsu, Aoi extended the net and discovered the person who had used the jutsu. "Female... Captain, there's someone a little bit East of The Stream..."

"How far?" Kurotsuchi asked, taking the pot with her as she heated the soup.

"About an hour's run..." Reading the sudden turbulence in the air currents, Aoi opened her eyes and spoke again. "They expended a large amount of their chakra on a jutsu, one that I'm going to guess created a large rift in the ground."

Hmm... "Could you point this out on a map?"

Aoi nodded and quickly pulled one out from her hip pouch. "They're right here, and the currents indicated the rift went from here to here, but it's likely a little larger than that."

"...There's only a small village in that direction, and it only bisects two roads that's marked on the map..."

"So I don't think they're doing it to cut off trade routes," Aoi added, looking at the map, "But it certainly would hinder movement quite a bit."

"True, but there aren't many villages in the area, much less ones of a decent size. That isn't something you do to stop just a few people..."

Hotaru overheard this, and joined Aoi and Kurotsuchi. "It's something you'd do to mark out a battlefield." Peering at the map, Hotaru offered another opinion. "See how it's angled slightly to Konoha? This person's expecting an attack on the village, and is trying to encourage the enemy ninja to... probably this area to the East, where they'll have set up some kind of defense." He and Aoi looked up to Kurotsuchi.

Coming from the North... "I think we've found our ninja. Aoi, Hotaru, keep a close eye on her. We'll observe her and then if possible capture her alive."

c=={=======

Tenten double checked the map as she caught her breath. "That should be far enough..." She looked to her left at the large trench in the ground, back along it deep into the forest it divided. I hope that's wide enough. Probably should test it out... Tenten backed up, then took a running jump at the edge. She came a few feet short, and hovered before crashing and falling in. "Alright. Time to head East..." Looking at the map, Tenten focused and teleported away, to the place she had met with Kakashi at the edge of the exploding tag line. She took in the fallen trees, then relaxed and drew in power from the Dragon Veins, the bones of the earth. Her energy boosted, she again made use of the Planet Splitter jutsu, carving the earth open far ahead of her. The going was slow, as she had to stop to regain energy by drawing in from the bones, but eventually she completed the trench. She marked it on her map, and nodded. I can't predict their route one hundred percent, but this should be good enough. As she rolled up the map, Tenten felt the breeze unnaturally linger over her again. I feel like I'm being watched... I'll check to see if anyone's in the area. Feeling out with the skin of the earth, the magnetic force, Tenten couldn't detect anyone. That breeze came from the West... Shiho's team got the kunai placed, so let's see if I can head over and surprise them... Warping over to the West past the edge of the exploding tag line, Tenten stopped at one of her last Flying Thunder God kunai in the area. Hmm... feels like someone's there, but it's at the edge of my range. Alright, two more over... there! There's definitely a group out West. That is one badass sensor type they have, I don't know of anyone with that kind of range. I was almost half a day's run away. Tenten looked over towards the line. I guess I'll set up here. The tags haven't been triggered, and with all the power they'll have collected I don't want to be near when they do go off.

As she gathered some sticks, Tenten decided to use them to make a trap door instead of for firewood. Using the Tunneling Technique she created two underground bases: one with an entrance leading up to the forest, and the other without one. At the bottom of the drop down in the open base, she placed one of her "complete" exploding tags. The door was soon completed, and though it was a decoy it was covered up just as if she was actually using it. To the North along the trench was the other base. Only a small air vent was made for this one, about the size of Tenten's wrist, and it was partially covered by a log and a clump of grass. Tenten dug inside with the Hidden Mole Jutsu, and sat down next to the wall. ...Like a tomb. Better get used to it... Tenten breathed in the moist, rich air, and began to meditate. Slowly and quietly she drew in the energy of the Dragon Veins, her body being revitalized and softly buoying up her spirit. The stress of the last few weeks and all the guilt and hate hovered over her mind, trying to fill the void created by the meditation. Tenten shut them out with the emptiness, and felt her awareness expand as she pushed back. She could sense not only the earth around her but also the trees and the grass above, and the breeze wandering by. Everything seemed to shimmer with an odd and yet familiar energy. Is this what Kawatatsu was talking about? All five chakra natures brought together and spread throughout nature... wait! This is that natural energy Naruto's mentioned, isn't it? And Kawatatsu said he saw this in me? Tenten shrank in and shifted her focus, to her chakra coils, and found them resonating with the energy around her. She reached out and tugged at the natural energy, and it didn't resist her pull. It flowed easily. As it entered her it bonded with the energy of the Dragon Veins, shining brighter. Tenten tried to slow down the balancing, mixing the energies within her at a manageable pace. She found the balance, and maintained it, feeling as if her body was glowing with good health.

I guess it's time to welcome them to the Land of Fire. Tenten could clearly sense the team's location, and stretched her chakra out in their direction. Snake, Dragon, Ram, and UP! Tenten thrust up a half Ram seal, the jutsu taking effect with a faint rumble despite the distance. That... didn't take as much of my chakra as it did the last time. Time to get above ground, I need some fresh air. Warping above, Tenten gulped down the breeze. "Ah!" Man, I feel great. That bit of meditation was just what I needed. Tenten took another deep breath then stretched, and began working on her taijutsu flow: transitioning from sharp to liquid, relearning certain strikes as inevitabilities instead of instants, and where to shift her weight to keep up her momentum. The Strong Style strikes hardwired into her system often clashed with Kawatatsu's principals, but where they didn't Tenten practiced them even more. The various spinning kicks and backfists received special attention, being whirled out with great speed. As Tenten flowed, she did not notice the time doing so, until it was late into the afternoon and her stomach growled. I guess I really do fall back on taijutsu. Hmmn, early supper then meditate some more... Tenten was back in and out of her bunker in a moment, coming up with her pack and scrolls. She settled on having her can of vegetable and beef stew, and set up her cooking pot. There was plenty of firewood nearby, the sticks having been dislodged by the creation of the trench. Tenten got the fire started by blowing out a small stream of flames into the tinder, smiling as the dry wood lit. I won't even need to bring firestarters, now. She hummed as the can of stew was opened and warmed. Just for tonight, I'll relax. Or try to at least. Soon enough the stew was stirred and heated, and ladled into the bowl.

Tenten took her time with the meal, stretching it out until the stew was almost lukewarm. Wiping the bowl out with a rag, and put it back in her pack, then settled down into the lotus position to meditate. She slowed down and emptied herself, her thoughts vacating her like butterflies from a cocoon. When she felt still and at peace, Tenten once more drew in energy from the bones of the earth, harmonizing it with her physical energy. In this connected state of stillness, she could feel the natural energy around her, and draw it into her. She could barely slow down the balancing of energy, until it felt... natural. And once again, as her mind expanded outwards, she could feel the presence of the team of ninja. They've moved in closer... I'll see if I can force them back. What was it again? Snake, Horse, Dragon... got it. Tenten flew up into the breeze, and turned North slightly, to face the ninja spying on her. Snake, Horse, Dragon, Rat, Ram, and Tiger! Hah! A voluminous jet of shining pale purple flames shot out from Tenten's mouth, spreading out over an area even larger than the last time she had used the jutsu. The explosion was spectacular, the flames blasting out in a kaleidoscopic effusion of heat and light; the trees that weren't vaporized were uprooted and flung away, the shockwave buffeting Tenten backwards. She came to a stop, and then after a moment realized it was not of her own accord. What?!

"Pretty light show, I'll give you that," Said Kurotsuchi. "If Aoi hadn't sensed you were about to use a jutsu we would've been goners."

"Let me go!"

"That's not an option! You realize that there's no ninja team who would, right? Imagine the accolades they'd get if they brought you in." Tenten was slowly lowered down to just above the ground, and got a better look at the team. The ninja who'd addressed her was apparently a female and had short dark hair and eyes, and to her right was a kunoichi with long and straight brown hair, and startlingly blue eyes. Tenten deduced she was the one restraining her, as the young woman maintained the Bird hand seal. To their right was a tall and sharp looking man who carried two swords on his back, and wore fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back. "And it's not just that, you're a danger to the Five Great Nations. You're unbalancing the peace we've been working towards, and Iwa is not going to let you get away with that!"

"Iwa and the Five Great Nations can kiss my ass, I only care about Konoha! Let me go, and I'll go back there and probably won't bother you again."

"There's no Limp Bizkit on the stereo, you're doing this my way and my way only. Hisao here will interrogate you. You will then be brought before the arbiters at the Hunter Squad training facility, where you will most likely be found guilty of everything you've done and then executed shortly thereafter. Do you understand?"

"...It doesn't surprise me a bitch like you listens to Limp Bizkit." Kurotsuchi immediately used her Lava Style: Quicklime Jutsu, and after it connected followed it up with a small use of the Water Trumpet jutsu. Tenten was cocooned in the substance, and could move her limbs less than before- not at all, actually. Without warning one of Hisao's katanas unsheated itself pressed into Aoi's neck. Tenten disappeared from the shell she was trapped in and held her katana against Kurotsuchi's neck. "Here's what you are going to do: leave. As much as I've come to dislike you in the last couple of minutes, my problem is with Kumo, not you ninja from Iwa. You take your friends here and that fourth guy who's disappeared and get back to Iwa, and I won't mess with you again. If you make yourself a problem, I will deal with you like I have everyone else, and just kill you without a second thought."

"Aoi, romeo foxtrot." In the blink of an eye Aoi formed the Bird hand seal, wrapping the air around Kurotsuchi's foot and swinging it up into Tenten's groin. Kurotsuchi grabbed Tenten's sword arm and threw her over her shoulder at maximum force. "Hisao!" The man stepped over and wove hand seals with her, two at a time. Two Snake seals, then Ox and Boar, then Tiger and Dog. They then separated and slammed their hands into the ground, a large hill rising up and up...

Tenten rolled down the other side, still slightly winded from the brutal throw. She righted herself and flew to level with the hilltop, which was at least twice as high in the air than the spiked hills she'd raised at Nakamura Pass. It began to rumble again, and violently erupted with molten lava and ash, the blast arcing in her direction! After watching in awe for a moment Tenten teleported out of the way to the left. She spotted Kurotsuchi's team down at the base, and flew to meet them. Aoi came up and blocked her mid-air, striking Tenten hard with whip-like kicks and punches. After Tenten got over Aoi's sheer speed and being able to fly, she began to flow around her, using her own speed and style to confuse the Kumo kunoichi before landing a scintillating palm strike to Aoi's nose. Tenten broke from her flow to stab Aoi with a cross to her lower ribs, and coming down on her with an axe kick that cut her out of the air. Focus... refine and sharpen. Tiger, Horse, Rabbit, Rat and Dog! Her hands glowing with crystalline purple chakra, Tenten slashed down at Kurotsuchi. The gesture was seen and Kurotsuchi moved back, avoiding the deep cut into the ground. The Iwa team proved very agile- Kurotsuchi in particular- and the slashes only cut into the earth. The landscape near the small volcanoe looked like the mangled vicim of an axe murderer. As one particular bit of ground toppled left as Kurotsuchi landed on it, Tenten slashed in at Hisao and behind her at the hill, flying left. Being split open, the hill coughed out a large glob of lava right towards Kurotsuchi. She scrambled and leapt off the section of earth, but Hisao was now almost in the same spot. Snake, Tiger- "Fireball Jutsu!" The huge globe of shining purple fire was speeding down to the right of the crevasse at Aoi and Kurotsuchi.

"I'll redirect the fireball!" Aoi sped through the five hand seals and used the Great Breakthrough technique, pushing the fireball off course enough to safely dodge.

Meanwhile, Kurotsuchi used the Water Trumpet jutsu, hardening the glob of lava some. It was enough so that it didn't splatter everywhere on contact with the ground, and Hisao was able to avoid it with a high jump.

Hotaru saw the ash beginning to drift down. I'll go for it! Forming the Snake, Monkey, and Rabbit hand seals, the jutsu took effect. The ash cloud sparked, and from inside it a large wave of lightning crackled out, stabbing into the hill and ground around it. Tenten too was struck by it, and cried out as she fell down the hill. He ran over, drawing out his tanto. Tenten was hunched over on her knees, shuddering. Raising his tanto for the final blow, Hotaru was suddenly blasted with a ball of fire that shot from between Tenten's feet.

Still shaking and cramping Tenten stood, she formed the hand seals she needed and called, "Earth Style: Planet Splitter!" The earth ripped apart under the Iwa team's feet, as if reality had decided it had had enough and let itself go. Flying up, Tenten formed the six hand seals again and blew out a jet of shining purple fire that filled up the massive rip in the ground. Tenten remembered Hotaru on the ground, and teleported down to him. He was breathing hard and his skin was raw and bloody, most of the front of his clothes burned away. Her arm cramped as she picked up Hotaru's tanto, and she hauled him up with it. He groaned, but didn't resist. She hovered over to the edge of the rip, holding the blade to his throat. "Do you want to join them? Do you?!"

"I... won't..." The edge bit into his neck, drawing blood.

Kurotsuchi undid her Earth Dome jutsu, rubbing her sprained ankle. Pale purple flames still burned around them, and up in the air Hotaru was held captive, a bloody mess. "This is what happens! I kill; everyone around me dies, sooner or later!"

Hotaru...! "Let him go!" Aoi pleaded. "Let him go and I swear we'll leave!"

"Aoi..." Kurotsuchi frowned. She didn't want to abandon the mission, but Hotaru was their medic and they needed him, especially now. "I'll make a deal with you! Let him go, and you'll be free to move around in your own country. But if we ever hear of you leaving the Land of Fire, we will hunt you down and rip your eyes out, cut your nose off, pull your tongue out, and leave you for dead."

"I'll go where Konoha needs me," Tenten replied. "But I'm feeling generous today. I'll let him go." Tenten cut into Hotaru's neck, and threw him down over the fire. Aoi cried out and sprang over the fire to catch him, stepping off of the air and back up to the top of the chasm. Immediately Tenten sprang over and hit her with a flying kick to the temple, and sat on her chest and pummeled Aoi's face with hard elbows and punches. She shifted over to Hotaru, and flattened his nose with an elbow strike. Trembling, she hovered over to where Kurotsuchi and Hisao were trapped in the flames. "There will be no deal! You can hate me all you want, forgiveness was never an option! This won't end with me, it can't now. The only way it can end is if Konoha is the only village left standing! So go, go to the Tsuchikage, bring your army! I will slaughter everyone you send for me, you and anyone you bring. So enjoy your life while you can, because if you keep going down this road someday I will END IT!" Wokring up what chakra she had left, Tenten formed the hand seals and blew a last column of shining pale purple fire down at the Iwa ninja.

c=={=======

The dungeon on the outskirts of Kumo had survived, and the Raikage decided it was time to pay it a visit. C was by his side, and voiced his concerns. "Are you sure about this, sir?"

"As sure as a man can be. This was not in Nakamura Pass, where she claims she is lord. This was in our land! Say what you will about the previous attacks, but we will not let an attack on our ninja on our soil go without reprisal."

"But sir, how do we know she'll not just avoid capture, if she even agrees?"

A looked over his shoulder at C. "We don't."

"We could at least let someone without a vendetta against our village carry out the objective; there are thousands who would gladly do so. I would."

"...Those thousands do not have her abilities. I am willing to choose between the lesser of two evils here, C. The debt will be repaid; blood for blood, pain for pain." A nodded to the door wardens, who quietly unlocked the heavy door to the underground facility and let him in. The damp air coming up had the smell of stale blood, sweat, and urine, with undertones of feces and tears. The corridors and cells were dimly lit on purpose, as Kumo jailers believed light was equated with hope. The more like a tomb the holdings were, the less hope the prisoners held for escape- or survival. A stopped at the front check in desk, and spoke to the chunin on duty. "Keys to oubliette seven." The man's tired eyes widened, and he rubbed his scruffy face as he hurriedly looked for the keys.

"First packet, in the false bottom..." He muttered to himself. The drawer was opened, and the false bottom accessed. A small packet of manila paper was opened, marked with a bold number seven. This was not the key. Unlike for the other six oubliettes, this was the key to the box holding the true keys, and if inserted into the locks on the oubliette would result in the sealing jutsu activating with a nasty shock. Folding up the plastic chair mat, the man turned the lock on the door and opened it up. In the space were two boxes, and he picked up the one marked with a seven. This one was opened, and inside was another manila packet. The chunin opened it and dumped the keys into his hand, passing them off to the Raikage as if they were cursed. A nodded and walked out without another word, heading off down the hall and to the first set of stairs down. There was another long hall lined with holding cells, which stank even worse than the first level.

At the back of the hall was a door, which was unlocked with one of the oubliette keys. There was a winding staircase down, leading to a room with seven doors around it. A went to the far right one, and spun the spoked wheel that pulled back the thick bolt. With that done he inserted the first key and turned it three times counter-clockwise. There was a series of thunks and clicks and sliding noises, after which the door was finally unlocked. It was pulled open, and the Raikage and C stepped into near total darkness. There was a very faint strip light to the left above the counter where the food tray winch was, nothing more. A knelt down, and used the second key to unlock the grille: once to the left, twice to the right; though the sequence to each oubliette was different. The grille was lifted up, and the unspeakably foul odor of the room got slightly stronger. The oubliettes weren't drained, like the rest of the dungeon.

"I've been eating my shit for months, I don't know why you bother with the food anymore." The voice was husky and vaguely feminine, somewhere between mannish and seductive.

"Out."

The command was greeted with a laugh. "Aw, did the Raikage go soft? We both know I'm never leaving here, so cut the shit."

"This is the Raikage."

The woman laughed again, louder this time. "Damn! Forgot what your voice sounded like. Hold on, let me climb up the spikes..." C gulped and loosened his collar, glancing over at A. He was staring down into the darkness, face stony and unreadable. Several moments of silence later, and a hand grabbed on to the edge of the grille. C marveled at how the woman could be strong enough to climb out after so long in the oubliette. She pulled herself up with a grunt, and landed gracefully on her feet. She was tall for a woman, her hair dark and matted, though whether that was her natural color or because of the filth all over her naked frame C didn't care to know. "I don't know why the spikes are still hooked up to the current, shouldn't they have been switched off after my years of good behavior?" There was a disgustingly genuine smile on the woman's strong and graceful face, and she laughed again when C looked away.

"...The voltage was lowered. Showers." The woman chuckled and followed A out, back up the stairs.

"So what's up? Trouble with the Eight Tails?" She asked, eyeing A's missing forearm. He didn't respond, and waited for C to lock the door to the oubliettes. "I heard something going down in the village, and it must have been bad if I could feel it way out here in the hole." A clenched his jaw, and kept silent. The woman chuckled and shook her head, and stepped into the second level's shower room. In spite of himself, C almost followed her in, before he remembered the vents weren't big enough to crawl through. It was a long shower, which wouldn't have bothered C much except for the moaning.

It's like a freaking Herbal Essence commercial in there. I understand enjoying your first shower in several years, but c'mon... or she might be doing this to mess with me, wouldn't put it past her. "...What about the army?"

"Shimo will field more to bring the total number of ninja close to the original. We will only train them for a short time, until Tenchihana's work is done."

"So they'll be playing more of a support role?" A nodded, then fell silent again.

The kunoichi walked up to them, looking muddy. "Either of you got a razor? I need to do some deforestation, there was a rat's nest in my bush." Wordlessly C handed her a kunai, which was accepted with a smirk. After a few "oops", the shower was filled with the sounds of hard scrubbing, and splattering. On and on it went, until C was sure the woman had scrubbed off most of her skin. "Got anything to drink?" She asked, startling C. She was now almost blindingly pale, and her hair- which could now be identified as a dark purple- hung down past her hips.

"...You'll have plenty later."

"Office," A ordered. The inmates shouted and whistled as the kunoichi walked by, crude catcalls following them all the way down the long hall.

She sniffed the air, ignoring them completely. "Ah, that smell. It's been so long..." She turned to C. "A woman gets thirsty, ya know? I really need a drink."

"...Like I said, you'll have your fill later."

"Oh? Finally gonna toss me a few of the expendables in here?" C didn't answer, and followed the Raikage up the stairs. The shinobi guarding the first floor stood dumbfounded as the kunoichi passed by; one of them sighed and pulled out a handful of Ryo as he turned to his partner. This attention, unlike that of the inmates below, the kunoichi seemed to thoroughly enjoy. She held her shoulders back and lifted her chin, shaking out her hair for effect. As they entered the office the chunin on duty stood and backed away, and the woman took his chair, wiggling deep into the seat. "Mmm. Feels good to have something soft under my ass, for once." She smirked, and looked to A. "So... what does the mighty Raikage want with little old Goro Tenchihana? Here to tell me my clan's welcome back in Kumo? Or maybe I've been pardoned. Ah, the mysterious depths of a man's mi-"

"I have an offer," A spat out. Goro's eyes sparkled, and she sat up in the chair. "We have found ourselves in need of an infiltration specialist, but beyond that, we are looking to send a message."

Goro grinned, her sharp canines showing. "What kind of message?"

"Aside from impersonating your target, you would be encouraged to make extensive use of your clan's bloodline limit throughout the village, in much the same way as you once did here."

"Ha ha ha! What quaint little village shall I be paying a visit to?"

"Konoha."

Goro's smile faded a little bit. "Konoha? Are you still after the Hyuga clan?"

"That operation has been abandoned, but if you are able to capture one of the Hyuga then by all means, do so. In recent months one of their ninja has become... a thorn in our side, in the same way the Fourth Hokage was to Iwa. She came across the border and attacked the joint force's training grounds, and we seek to repay her in kind."

"Like the Fourth was to Iwa? Namikaze was an anomaly, there won't be anyone else like him, ever."

"And yet Tenten has mastered his jutsu, and several more besides. I will come for her, but in the meantime you will infiltrate Konoha, and do as you wish to their citizens and ninja."

"Interesting, but you haven't mentioned any kind of payment, and I'm not doing this for free." Goro raised an eyebrow, and tilted her head at the Raikage.

"...If you have satisfactorily performed your mission, you will be graduated to house arrest."

Guffawing, Goro slapped her thigh. "Ah, ah that's a good one." She cleared her throat, and straightened up. "Alright then, I accept. Details."

A picked up the folder he'd tossed on the desk when he came in, and opened it for Goro. "You will be assuming the identity of this young woman, Amane Tatsuyama. She is a seamstress and weaver, chiefly supplying her merchandise to the ninja of the village. We've had her scouted for an infiltration mission for some time, but recently received word from a contact in Oto that she was in the Land of Sound to buy and trade. You will be supplied with the cloth Tatsuyama left the village to purchase, as well a sum of Ryo to purchase two ninja bodyguards for the duration of your stay."

Goro shook her head. "Naked for eight years, and my first job's as a seamstress... How long am I going to be under cover?"

"A week."

"Hmn. What do I do if I come across this Tenten?"

"Restrain her to the best of your abilities, and bring her here. We will see how Konoha looks after its heroes then..."

Reading over the file quickly, Goro nodded and clapped it shut. "If you get a hold of Tenten before me, make sure there's some of her left. It's been too long since I've drunk the blood of a hero."

c=={=======

Hanabi Hyuga looked over at her partner nervously. She'd heard terrible things about her, things which contradicted everything her older sister and cousin had told her. The young woman seemed friendly to her, though, and Hanabi decided to reserve her judgement until she had worked with her.

"I think this is the place," Tenten said, looking at the note.

"Oh. What danger could a seamstress be in?"

"She might be lining her pockets with Ryo her suppliers are expecting, or something." Tenten looked down at Hanabi. The girl had made chunin soon after the Fourth Ninja War, and was said to be skilled and wise beyond her years, but Tenten could only see how young she was. "...One thing that I've learned is that it's best not to ask too many questions on bodyguard missions. Let's head in and say hi, alright?" Tenten opened the door, and the two stepped into Tatsuyama's Textiles. It was a small and cozy shop, with a very homey feel. One wall was devoted to bolts of cloth, with sample books and catalogues on a shelf under it. On the other were ninja uniforms and casual wear, with more catalogues on a shelf under them.

At the back behind a wide counter/table was a small young woman with wavy brown hair and green eyes, wearing a floral print jacket in one of the styles Hanabi had seen on the wall. "Hello, how may I help you two?" She had a low, husky voice that seemed a little at odds with her frail appearance.

"Is Miss Tatsuyama here?" Hanabi asked.

The woman's eyes lit up. "That's me! You're the two I got?" Hanabi nodded, and the woman smiled. "Wonderful. I've been having a little trouble with tax collectors, is all. I just need a little time before a couple payments come through and then that will be taken care of." Hanabi breathed in relief, and Amane came out from behind the counter. "Why don't I make something for you two, in addition to your pay? Anything you'd like." Hanabi glanced at Tenten, a little nervous. "Don't be shy."

"...I have been wanting forearm warmers for a while, and I'm very partial to this color," Hanabi said, looking at her dark blue-gray sleeveless shirt.

Amane nodded and looked to Tenten. "And anything for you, miss?"

"...Do you have flame retardant fabric? A loose uniform shirt made from that would be nice."

"Oh, flame retardant. It's been a while..." Amane walked over to the bolts of fabric and picked up a catalogue, leafing through it. "Hmm..." She looked up and scanned the fabrics, before finding the material in question. "There! Okay. I'll get you ladies' sizes later today, in the meantime you can rest in the sewing room," Said Amane, gesturing to the doorway behind the counter. "I'll call if I need you." Tenten and Hanabi nodded, and walked to the back of the shop. To the left was a staircase, and on the right was the sewing room. It was occupied by a table in the middle, on which were two different sewing machines and a pattern for some garment.

"Flame retardant fabric?"

"You have to deal with a lot of explosions during war and large scale fights," Tenten explained as she took a seat. "And, you know, I have been learning Fire Release."

"Oh! Sometimes I've been wondering what nature my chakra is. I hope it's lightning, or wind."

"Those do seem like they'd be a good fit for you," Tenten agreed. "Maybe I'll get some chakra paper tomorrow and we can see what your affinity is."

"I don't know about that, wouldn't you be gone too long?" Tenten pulled up her pants leg, revealing a seal tattoo Hanabi had never seen before.

"I'd just be away for a minute, so don't worry about me not being around."

"What do you mean...?"

"Do you remember when that orange haired ninja showed up at the gates?"

"Yes... so that was you?" Hanabi's eye's widened. "So you've learned the Flying Thunder God Jutsu?"

Tenten smiled and nodded. "It's been a lifesaver, literally. Was a total bit- I mean, beast to learn, though."

Then maybe she could get my stuffed bunny for me... "Who was the orange ninja?"

"Ha, that was Kakashi. The whole thing was his idea, actually; he even choreographed it..."

"Uh, then may I ask what it was for if it wasn't real?" Hanabi looked down at her feet, with her hands on her knees.

"I don't know anymore. I thought it would help Lady Tsunade believe me, but then she found out I'm Taiyocho anyways and trusts me about the same amount..." Tenten shrugged. "I've just been making a lot of dumb mistakes lately, like forgetting about my camping gear and then accidentally burning it in a fight." She sighed, and leaned back in her chair. "But enough of that for now. What do you want forearm warmers for?"

"I... think they look neat, and maybe I could have some ninja tool hidden in them."

"Hmm. And I guess they'd be the same color as your shirt and pants? That's a good color for you, it works nice with your hair."

"Oh, uh, thank you." Hanabi looked up and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "...Your hair looks nice when you're wearing it down like that."

"Thanks, Hanabi." Tenten smiled, and hoped the rest of the mission would be this slow and peaceful.

c=={=======

Ana Nozoki giggled. The late-night fling months ago had turned into an affair, the danger turning simple kisses into thrilling events that seemed to make the world brighter and more beautiful. Arashi would be tidying up inside the apartment as she slipped out the back door and down the alley, unnoticed by his wife who would be coming home from her night shift at the hospital in minutes. Ana sighed in contentment, and flipped her hair over her shoulder. From above she was brought to the ground, and felt someone bite her neck. "Wh- who?!" A hand roughly clamped her mouth shut, as Ana was bitten harder. Feeling her consciousness slip away, Ana closed her eyes.

Goro wiped her mouth, and finished drinking. She licked her lips and sighed. The woman had been healthy, but not particularly fit, so the energy she was able to draw from the blood was nothing special. Arashi hadn't been any better, and she was still thirsty. And after almost a third of her life without blood to drink, she was going to need a lot more.

She didn't really get people's disgusted reactions to her clan's bloodline limit. Blood was life; benefitting from drinking it was a simple matter. It was only the occasional malnourished members of the Tenchihana clan that needed to drink enough for someone to actually die from the blood loss. Health would give health: the more active and well nourished someone was, the less would need to be drunk. And, naturally, ninja were the best of all to drink from, their blood was intoxicating and arousing. Blacksmith was across town to the North... Goro set off at a fast pace down the alleyways, staying off the rooftops. She may have been in a ninja village, but she didn't want to attract much attention at this hour; only two kinds of people would be up this late and Goro was not either. Well, she supposed she was a ninja again, but she wasn't dressed as one.

In a few minutes she found the trade street, and slipped into the alley. One, two, and then all the way down to the sixth shop. Focusing her chakra into her fingertip, she then held it to the door, and used her chakra to work open the lock. Ha! Still got it. The lights were off, but Goro was well acquainted with darkness and her eyes adjusted quickly. The room on the first floor was empty, and upstairs two doors were open. One was a bathroom, and the other was a girl's room. The small child was asleep and curled into a ball, sucking her thumb, and clutching her teddy bear. Goro's eyes lit up. While they didn't have much to offer, a child's blood was usually satisfying. The girl seemed well-fed, and holding her hand over the girl's mouth, Goro picked her up and bit in. The blood was she'd hoped it would be, and right after the pain woke up the child, she fell unconscious again. Mmm. Her dad should be enough for tonight... Goro tucked the child back into bed, and went down the hall. What she assumed was the master bedroom door was closed but not locked, and she turned it opened. The man was asleep with his wife, snoring slightly. Sliding up to the side of the bed, Goro took the man's wrist and sat down, biting in deep. The blood flowed fast into her mouth, potent and flavorful. Mmm, a strong man's blood. Just what I needed...

"What is it, Keiko..." He murmured sleepily. But soon, he was back under. For several more moments Goro drank; for the first time since getting to Konoha she felt satisfied. Rising and giving the man a kiss on his neck, Goro slipped out and down to the store. She helped herself to a tanto and a case of kunai, as well as a holster for them. A pair of metal bracers was lifted as well, and deciding she had enough to deal with any ninja that might be up late, left the blacksmith's shop and locked the door after her...

c=={=======

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, Hanabi turned around. "Oh, you're back."

"Yup! Not even a minute, like I said." Tenten laid the packet on the sewing table, and opened it, pulling out two small slips of paper. "See here? Just focus a bit of chakra into the paper," Tenten said as she demonstrated, "And it'll react." The square Tenten held darkened and crumbled, falling onto the table like dust. "You try it now."

Hanabi carefully took the paper, and held it up to focus on it. A few heartbeats later, it was shredded into several dozen pieces. Hanabi looked up to Tenten questioningly. "It didn't crumble like yours did, so...?"

Isn't it just supposed to tear in half?! "When it gets cut like that, it means you have wind natured chakra." Hanabi smiled, and Tenten smiled with her. "I just so happen to know someone who can help you with that."

"...What do you know of wind jutsu, Miss Tenten?"

"I know it can be used for cutting things, but that's about it. I got stuck with boring old earth, so I can't help you there. Why don't you ask Naruto about it sometime?"

"Do you think he would teach me?"

"I know he would."

"Girls, I've closed up shop! Let's eat dinner soon!" Amane walked in from the front smiling. "Been having fun? I heard something about Tenten leaving for a bit."

"I went to pick up some chakra paper for Hanabi."

"Oh, that's... what do you use it for again?"

"The kind I got here can identify your elemental affinity," Explained Tenten.

"Ah. I left the Academy before I learned the fancy stuff." Amane motioned for them to follow, and they went upstairs to the apartment.

"You used to be a ninja, Miss Tatsuyama?" Hanabi asked.

"That would be a bit of a stretch- I have low chakra reserves, and I used to faint after just a couple simple jutsu. I can't even water walk for more than a couple minutes, so I gave up on training."

"You should have kept at it," Said Tenten. "Most people don't have big chakra reserves when they start, but they can get larger with some training."

"I know, but I liked sewing better." Amane smiled. "I always wanted to be like my mother, anyways. Would you be okay with rice again? We have some left over, and I could make more."

"The rice would be fine, Miss Tatsuyama." Amane nodded, and Tenten walked into the kitchen to warm up the curry.

"May I ask why you carry that katana everywhere?" Asked Amane, as Tenten found a pan to warm the curry in.

"I just want to make sure it's always in reach."

Hmm. Amane glanced over, suspicious. That swarming distorted feeling, it's not natural. It's like the scent of stale blood but for chakra... "Well, it's nice that you're taking the job seriously."

"Thank you." Tenten smiled quickly and turned on the stove, pouring the curry into the pot. "But you know, this is probably the easiest job I've had in years. It's nice to do something like this for a change of pace."

"I've heard from one of my ninja customers there's something going on with Kumo. That's the last thing we need right now, after a war like the last one."

"You can say that again..." Tenten murmured.

"Have you heard anything about it? I thought there was some kind of alliance..."

"...It's not official, but the Shinobi Allied Force disbanded after the war, so I'd be willing to bet anything Kumo's making plans to attack after what's happened at Nakamura Pass."

So it is the same Tenten... "Oh, I've heard a couple of my customers mention that place. But enough of that for now, I'm sure you don't want to talk about it before dinner." Tenten laughed, and Amane noticed the distant look in her eyes. I know the feeling, kid- it can't be drowned in blood. And it's gonna take a while for it to go away. Dumping the rice into the steamer, the water was poured in and the lid sealed everything up. I'll let her go, but the Hyuga's mine. If A think's he's getting her eyes he can kiss my pasty white ass. It was only a handful of miutes before the curry was heated and the rice steamed again. Hanabi got the dishes from the cabinet, and Tenten the drinks from the refridgerator. The meal was set out on the counter, and with an itadakimasu they dug in.

Late at night, Tenten was returning from the bathroom. She had spent a long time staring into the mirror, looking at herself and wondering what other people saw. With a long sigh, she shook her head and left the room, going back down the hall to their rooms. Amane had given them the one next to hers, which was connected by a door. On a whim Tenten decided to look in on her, to see if she was sleeping okay. The door swung open silently, and Tenten briefly felt a tugging at the back of her eyes as she looked on the scene: Amane was sleeping peacefully, and the window was cracked open, a slight breeze blowing in. This, this is like that jutsu from the chunin exams... Concentrating for a moment Tenten dispelled the genjutsu, and then looked around what was really in the room. The window was wide open, and Amane's sheets were rumpled. She was not in them. Her nightgown was balled up at the foot of the bed, her slippers next to it. Not a ninja? I actually believed her. Who is she, really...? Tenten frowned and went back to the other room, closing the door behind her.

c=={=======

Over the last few days the list had been compiled when Goro lied about the "new" home delivery service. On it were the names of ten ninja and many more civilians. Next up was one Ken Kenko, a younger ninja who had come by for a scarf. The Kenkos lived next to the Akimichi clan, who were clear over on the other side of the village. But with her health restored after all she'd had to drink the last few days, the rooftop run went quickly.

The Kenko estate was of modest size, with one large main house and two smaller ones, separated by a garden. Ken's features looked definitive to Goro, as if he strongly carried his clan's blood in him, so she guessed he would be from the main family and staying in the mansion. Second floor, probably a corner room... Goro tucked the note into her top and jumped over the fence, running in a crouch to the main house. She climbed up the wall, and peeked into the corner window: there was someone asleep on the bed, curled up and facing away from the window. Using the lockpicking jutsu, Goro undid the clasp on the window and wedged her tanto into the crack at the bottom, wiggling it around and levering up the window until she could get a finger under it. She opened it up and slipped in, creeping up to the bed. Gently turning them over, Goro found her massive streak of luck had continued, and that it was indeed Ken. She held him up and drank, relishing his strong blood's taste. Oh, he's strong... Apparently Ken was a heavy sleeper, as he hadn't woken up. Goro pulled out Amane's vodka flask from her sash, and directed the flow of blood into it. She deepened the cut slightly with her tanto to speed up the process, and when the flask felt mostly full she stopped it up and pressed Ken's sheets against his neck. "Goodnight, sweet prince; and flights of angels sing thee to thy sleep..." Goro snuck out the way she came in, and closed the window.

Last on the list for tonight was Miina Yamashiro. The stylish young woman had come in looking for a full uniform, made from the same flame retardant fabric Tenten had asked about.

"I only have it in forest green and uniform gray, unfortunately. I won't be able to pick a color to match your eyes."

Miina chuckled, and removed her dark sunglasses. "Us Yamashiro don't get many options when it comes to matching colors with our eyes." Miina's pupils sparkled like diamonds, clear and dazzling. "I'll have it in forest green."

"Alright. And may I ask why you wear glasses? Your eyes are beautiful."

"Ha! Beautiful, yes, but not particularly stealthy. Even geniuses like my cousin Aoba keep them covered up most of the time."

"Perhaps you could try going without glasses in the village, I'm sure some people would appreciate your eyes."

"Maybe I will." Miina smiled, and followed Amane to the sewing room to get her measurements taken.

The Yamashiro clan simply had an alley to themselves, instead of an estate. It was relatively close to the Kenko estate, and Goro was able to make it there in less than a minute over the rooftops. There were a few lamps along the back doors softly glowing, swaying in the gentle breeze. Third house down if I was coming from the shop, so... that's this one here. The lock was picked and Goro tiptoed in. Dojutsu users... I'll need to stay out of sight for the operation. Forming the Snake, Dog, and Rat hand seals, Goro's form took on the appearance of a featureless black shadow. She drifted along the hallways of the small apartment, until she found Miina's room. The young woman was topless, and sitting on the edge of her bed.

"What? Jin, that's not funny, cut it out." Goro held up her pointer and middle fingers like a tuning fork, and shook them as she whistled quietly. "Guhh..." The room tilted and swirled around Miina, and she fell back on her bed. Goro moved in quickly and bit into her neck, drinking deeply. After Miina lost consciousness, Goro pulled out the medical equipment she'd stolen, and prepared to transplant Miina's left eye. First the local anaesthetic, and once that was injected she made sure everything was hooked back and got to work with the scissors. Quickly and carefully cutting the muscle, making sure everything was separated before it the tissue was sliced through. After what seemed like forever but was really a quite remarkable handful of minutes, the eye was removed. Goro got out the jar and placed the globe in the clear fluid, and twisted the lid shut. Here goes nothing... Goro readied the second vial of local anaesthesia and raised the needle to her face, when someone entered the room behind her.

"Hey babe, I heard you whistle... for me..." Jin's stomach turned as he saw Miina on her bed, the left side of her face bloody. "Drop the jutsu, now!" Goro repeated the genjutsu she'd used on Miina, and turned to the young woman. Without time to finish the procedure she'd just have to settle for the Mystical Palm jutsu to get everything closed up. After the green glow of healing faded, Goro took one of the scissors and stabbed her left eye. She slammed open the window and raced off to the hospital. Her vision was swimming with red by the time she arrived.

"Could someone...?!" One of the night shift workers saw Goro's bleeding left eye, and hurried over.

"What happened?" The woman asked, as she hurried Goro off to the emergency room.

"I was at the Shibuya Spice Shop for a transplant, but before they were about to put me under I heard someone mention they were short on kidneys for the month. I ran out, and on the way someone stabbed me." Goro breathed heavily, and held up the jar. "But I managed to swipe the eye from them."

"Good. It's long past time that place was shut down," The medic kunoichi said. "Shibuya's a crook and we don't need him disgracing the name of our medics... Did you go through the front and trash his spices on the way out?"

"No, I came and left through the back..." The medic nin sighed and shook her head, and they arrived at the E.R.

"Eye transplant, stat." She turned to Goro and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Just hang tight and we'll get you taken care of, okay?" Goro nodded as two medic nin took her away to an operating room nearby.

"I managed to get the eye..."

"Excellent." The man gestured to the bed, and Goro lied down on it, trying not to smile. After the shot of local anaesthesia, the area was stretched open, and the Chakra Scalpel was used.

Maybe I would have been this good if we'd never been banished... Trying to calm herself and slow her heart rate, Goro relaxed as the procedure went on. Sooner than she would have thought, the Mystical Palm jutsu was being used on her orbital socket, and then she could see again.

"Just make sure to stay out of bright sunlight for the next day or so. You're free to go, Miss...?"

"Karin, Karin Tsubasa. I'm living with Miina Yamashiro right now, so if you send the bill to her place I'll get it."

"Alright. Have a good night, Miss Tsubasa." Goro nodded and slipped off the bed, leaving the E.R. and the hospital. As she took to the rooftops, Goro noted her vision actually seemed to be marginally clearer than it had been. There were faint smudges of golden-orange, cool blue, and silver within the houses she skipped over. They were distinct and not washing over her field of vision like sunspots would, so Goro surmised that this was one of the abilities of her new eye. I wish I could have learned more from Miina before she left. I can feel there's more to it than this... From the hospital it was a short run back to the shop, and Goro came in through the second floor window to her room. Her bracers and tanto were put away, and she undid her long braid on her way to the bathroom.

"Every night of my life, I watch angels fall from the sky..." Goro sang quietly. She flipped the bathroom lights on and left the door cracked open. Hmm. Still thick, but not covering half of my forehead like before... Amane's razor was taken from the mirror cabinet, and Goro trimmed her eyebrows down to where she had them before she was imprisoned, a well defined curve that some had called her best feature. She stepped back to look at herself for a minute. My hair got so long... but I think I like it. Maybe long hair's in style these days; I guess I might ask one of the girls about it later today. Ah, this is the life. Plenty to drink, and before the week is through I'll have a Byakugan and a Daiyagan, and be out of that hellhole forever-

"Miss Tatsuyama?" Hanabi sleepily asked. But instead of Amane, a strange woman was standing in the bathroom with a razor. She was tall, and had hair past her hips that was the same color as her mother's. She was thin and had bags under her eyes, as if she had recently been sick. And most puzzling was her left eye, which sparkled like a diamond. "Who are you...?" The woman smiled, and made two v signs with her fingers. She slid them together a few times, and with a blush Hanabi understood her. She put the razor back in the cabinet and winked as she passed Hanabi. I didn't know Miss Tatsuyama was like that... but I mustn't pry. She must have not told us she had a lover for a reason... Hanabi sighed, and closed the bathroom door behind her.

c=={=======

"That's ridiculous, the Tsubasa's haven't produced a ninja since my grandfather was around."

"That was the name she gave, Lady Tsunade."

"And how's Miina?"

"She's doing well enough," Kakashi answered. "There wasn't any prosthetic inserted, but her socket was healed up and the tools left behind. The ninja was most likely planning to stick around and perform a transplant."

"But then Jin walked in and ruined her plans... hmm..." Tsunade closed her eyes in thought for a moment, then opened them and turned to the medic nin again. "And all the bite marks are consistent with one set of teeth, correct?"

"Yes ma'am."

Tsunade picked up the sketch of the suspect again. Thick eyebrows dominating the heart-shaped face, and long, dark purple hair. "...Copy this and get it to the Jonin Standby Station," She said to Shizune. "Kakashi: go back to the hospital for the eye, and then use the Single Trigram Tracking Jutsu to find them. I want this ninja talking to Ibiki Morino before the day is done."

c=={=======

"Amane" was checking the pattern for a second before she continued. It was her sewing day, and she had a lot of work to do. She had taken up the scissors again when the bell on the counter was dinged. She hurried to the front, and found a tall ninja with spiky silver hair waiting for her. Damn. Of all the ninja to walk into all the clothing stores in the world, Kakashi of the Sharingan happens to walk into mine... "How may I help you, sir?"

"I just wanted to talk about this sketch here." Kakashi held up the folded paper and continued, "Is there anyone else in the shop?"

"Oh, yes. My two bodyguards are in the sewing room. If you would..." Amane bowed and lead the way to the back, and stood beside Kakashi.

"Hmm? Surprised to see you here. Does Lady Tsunade want me for anything?"

"Not today, Tenten. Have you or Hanabi seen anyone who looks like this?" Kakashi unfolded the paper, and held the sketch up for them.

"No, can't say that I have. Is she a model or something? She's kinda pretty." Even though she has eyebrows like Lee and Guy Sensei.

"Not a model; she's wanted for dozens of cases of breaking and entering and aggravated assault. The Single Trigram Tracking Jutsu indicated that they're in the building."

Hanabi peered closely at the sketch, then started. "I've seen them! I saw them early today, they claimed to be Miss Tatsuyama's lover." With a small grunt Hanabi activated her Byakugan, and turned to Amane. "It's h-" Before Hanabi could finish the sentence Goro was behind her and holding her shears to her neck, her Transformation Jutsu dropped.

"One of her eyes, that all I want. I can either rip it out right here and now, or-"

"You wouldn't make it out of the shop alive," Tenten said as she drew her black katana. "So you're going to tell us who you are and what you're doing in our village."

Glancing between Kakashi and Tenten, Goro sighed and tossed the shears onto the table. She sat down in Hanabi's chair and folded her arms. "I'm Goro Tenchihana. The Raikage ordered me to infiltrate your village, and to feed on your people."

"And?"

"That's it, that's all he asked."

"And we're supposed to believe that? How do we know you weren't ordered to steal a Byakugan, like you were just trying to?" Asked Tenten.

"Well, A said the Hyuga mission had been abandoned, but that if I came across one of their clan I could go ahead and take their eyes."

And she already has a Daiyagan... "What else?"

"He also mentioned that if I came across Tenten here, I should tie her up and get back to Kumo." Goro glanced at Tenten for a second, before looking back at Kakashi. "But I like her, so I figured that once I'd gotten Hanabi's Bykugan I'd just leave the village. And that's definitely all there is to this. You can torture me all you want, but that's all."

"And go back to Kumo once you've left here?" Kakashi said. "Not happening."

Goro laughed loudly. "I was offered house arrest for this mission. I need to stretch my legs, Hatake. There's no way I'm going back to the dungeons or house arrest."

"House arrest?' Hanabi asked. "That's a horrible deal."

"You were still wearing diapers when A tossed me in the hole," Goro said to Hanabi. "There aren't many things worse than sitting in your own shit for eight years, so house arrest wouldn't have been the absolute worst." Goro leaned back in the chair and stretched. "So that's my story. Gonna hand me over to Morino now?"

"Yes."

Goro nodded, and quickly held up her fingers. "Two more things: first, A said I'd only be here for a week. Second, he mentioned a joint force. I'm the least of your problems right now." Goro vibrated her fingers and whistled loudly. The room twisted and whirled around Hanabi, and she saw Goro disperse into a cloud of bats before she fainted.

c={=======

"...And she vanished after the eye was stolen."

Tsunade swore under her breath, and stood to face the window. "...Where's Tenten?"

"She's at the northern gate house."

"Alright. I want her to explain herself before this hits the fan, so get every on duty ninja out there, pronto."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade." Shizune bowed, and hurried off to sound the call.

Elsewhere, Tenten was making sure for the fifth time that afternoon that she had everything packed and sealed away. Kunai and shuriken, in the holster. Weapon scroll one and two, then, right here... that's three and four, with the explosive tags. Left breast pockets... there's the food pills, and there are the plasma pills. Black katana is on my back, and I just finished the Dragon Bomb seal on my forearm, so... that's everything. Wait! My new uniform shirt- Warping away to Tatsuyama's Textiles, Tenten looked around the sewing room. There, on a mannequin, was her shirt. The fabric felt a little heavy, but it was still soft. The underarms were vented with mesh, which Tenten couldn't remember asking for but was happy to discover. Huh. Guess she really did like me... Tenten took off her flak jacket and changed shirts, glad there was at least one person willing to help her out. Tenten slipped on her flak jacket, and teleported back to the gate house. Black katana is with me, there's the-

"Nobody messed with your stuff in the minute you were gone," Genma explained. "It's how you left it." Tenten looked at him slightly annoyed, and packed up her things again. "Where'd you go, anyways? I could barely even make you leave to get something to eat when your stomach started growling earlier today."

Tenten huffed and answered, "I went to pick up my new uniform shirt. I'm wearing it now, see?"

"Doesn't look much different," Genma shrugged. Tenten sighed and shook her head, and sat down on her cushion to start meditating. A few moments later, there was a knock on the door. Genma looked at Tenten, who didn't move to answer it. In any case, it opened a few seconds later.

"Tenten?" Shizune asked.

"What?"

"Lady Tsunade has asked you to speak to the ninja gathered at the gate."

"Why would she do that? I have the public speaking skills of a wooden spoon."

"...Her exact words were, 'I want her to explain herself before this hits the fan', so don't worry about how good you sound. Just talk." Shizune offered her hand, and Tenten pulled herself up and walked out of the gatehouse.

Gah, everyone's here. Why so many...? Tenten floated up in the air, and saw still more ninja coming in from the side streets. She waited a few moments, and in that brief time decided to start with a question. "...Think about this for a second, and be honest with yourself: what are you willing to live for? For yourself, for the Will of Fire?" Tenten paused, seeing even more ninja filing in; some had elected to head to the roofs of the nearby buildings. "And think about this: when your family and your loved ones, and your village are threatened, what are you willing to kill for?" Tenten took a few breaths to calm herself, and continued. "I'm the one who attacked our treaty scroll relay team. I had no idea who the ninja I was attacking were, and I didn't care. I just wanted some time for myself, to think about Neji and everything that had happened since the war. And did I get it? Barely. I spent most of the time that I'd planned to have for a vacation training, and fighting. I killed and killed, and even a few times wished that I could be killed, too. And in spite of everything I did to protect myself, I find out there's an army marching on my home, one that I have absolutely no chance of stopping by myself. So I come back here to Konoha, and get told that someone has to pay for what I did to the treaty scroll team. So I volunteered to pay for it; I know the law is the law no matter who breaks it, and I believe crimes should be payed for by the ones who committed them. So it will not be any of you fighting the army marching on our village, it will be me! I will be the only ninja they see defending our village! Okay? So think about this for a second: when your back's against the wall and you don't know if you're going to live to see tomorrow, what are you willing to die for?! Huh? What's your life worth, the things you love or the people you hurt? Do you have an answer for that, do you?!" Tenten breathed heavily, and no one answered her. "Go back to where you came from, that's all I have to say."

"Who do you think you are, to do this?!" Looking down, Tenten saw that it was Genma who'd spoken.

"I am Tenten! I'm the Sun Bird and the disciple of the last dragon, just who in the Hell do you think I am?!" As she finished, there was a tremendous, titanic explosion behind her. She turned to look and saw a ball of flame rising up on the horizon, and soon afterwards a sudden strong gale picked up. It's only been six days, Goro said she had a week! Her heart hammering in her chest, Tenten focused and teleported out to the area. The air smelled of hot ashes, and Tenten found herself at the edge of a vast and deep crater. The fireball was still rising up, parting the clouds that had hung over the scene. Steeling herself, Tenten grit her teeth and teleported to the other side of the crater. She saw a sea of flattened trees and prone bodies before her. The surrounding trees that hadn't been flattened were roaring with fire, crackling and toppling over. Tenten teleported forwards again, and at last found ninja that were moving. It was not here that she began her work; she flew farther North down the column, and it was then she drew her black katana and warped down into the mayhem. She zig-zagged across the column, weaving in through the trees and striking at will. The run through the forest was an intense blur, and Tenten kept it up until the frequent teleports back and forth began to twist her mind around, disorienting her.

She came to a stop in the middle of a unit she had not warped through yet and planted her katana in the ground. Snake, Tiger, clap! "Call of the Heavens Jutsu!" The ring of fire burst out like a great shout, immolating the ninja close to her and knocking those farther away off their feet as they caught fire. She pulled up her katana and returned to running wild among the Kumo and Kiri ninja, not teleporting but jumping and flying. Now that they had a solid target to aim at- albeit a moving one- the strike force hastily formed up and began coordinated volleys of lightning and fire jutsu. Where she could not avoid them with speed Tenten teleported out of reach. "Die! You will all DIE!" Unnecessarily decapitating a ninja she had warped to the area of, Tenten teleported up into the air, sheathing her katana. I think the fourth had the leftover earth style tags... Tenten got out the weapon scroll and flung it high into the air, extending her chakra to them and running throught the hand seals. "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!" The kunai multiplied into a thick cloud that shredded the canopy and fell on the army like an iron wave. The explosions followed like sweat being shaken off a lover's skin, ripping apart the trees and ground. There are still so many... even after the exploding tag line triggered and what I just did... Okay. So now it's time to go deeper in!

Tenten flew past the long trenches in the ground, and warped down to the ground to catch her breath. Draw in power from the bones, all that I can...! With steady breaths Tenten balanced the energy coming in. She bit her thumb to draw blood, and then summoned Kawatatsu. Once summoned, he stared into her eyes. "You have begun to make war against the Kumo ninja and their allies?"

"Yes, sir. There... are so many more than I had expected, even though my exploding tags were so strong."

"...Humanity fights by entering into insanity. An instant, a choice that cannot be taken back. Young Tenten, war is a state of being, it is survival and life itself. If you flow and do not give in to insanity, you shall win your war, even though mountains and nations may stand in your way. Are you ready?"

"...I am." Tenten nodded and jumped onto Kawatatsu. "Sir, would you draw in power from the bones of the earth and take me South-East, into the air? I want to start there."

"As you wish." Kawatatsu pulled in energy from the Dragon Veins, so smoothly the surge in strength seemed almost immediate. The dragon leapt and twisted into the air, gracefully rippling through the air like a ribbon.

Facing the ninja army, Tenten lightly touched Kawatatsu with her chakra, and he let his into her, joining together. Forming the six hand seals for her jutsu, Tenten blew out a wide and wild river of pale purple fire. As she did so Kawatatsu let out a trumpeting roar, the blast of air from his trunk fuelling and propelling the flames forwards, until they had washed over an area almost as long as the blast crater left by the exploding tags. "I'll fly down their right flank!" Warping down and then flying below the canopy, her black blade came out once again. Tenten could hear the flames rushing in behind her, Kawatatsu's roar following her like an echo as she slashed and dodged incoming jutsu. This went well for several moments, until a swarm of lasers swam into her path. Teleporting to the tree they had shot out from behind, Tenten landed a heavy kick to Darui's gut, sending him crashing down to the forest floor. "What are you doing here?"

"What I should have done at Nakamura Pass!" Darui raised his cleaver sword and called down a bolt of black lightning on it, and swung towards Tenten. The energy lanced towards her like the fabric of space had been ripped open, and Tenten had to teleport to dodge despite not being in close range. The trunk of the tree it hit behind Tenten blew open with a loud crack, but the forest giant stood tall for the moment. Tenten teleported in and clashed with Darui, but after a few strikes her hands felt numb and stiff and she warped back away. Another black bolt streaked towards her, and was avoided. Quickly forming the Snake hand seal Tenten threw a magnetic barrier sideways, successfully tearing the cleaver sword from Darui's grip. It flew and stuck edge first into a tree, the black lightning splitting and bursting the trunk and branches apart. Before the tree could topple over onto him Darui retrieved his blade, springing out from under the tree to clash with Tenten again. The duel was furious; it seemed like a swarm of fireflies flew around the two. Tenten was able to deflect several near hits with sheer speed, but after a high block Darui slammed her katana to the ground, chopping the Soul Detachment Jutsu seal and the blade in half. Swiftly Tenten stepped on the cleaver sword and stuck in a kick to the crook of Darui's elbow, breaking his grip on the sword. She picked it up hurled it into the wall of flames to their right.

Still determined, Darui began to weave the hand seals for his Gale Style: Laser Circus. As Tenten caught sight of this she warped behind him and whirled her hardest low sweep, knocking off Darui's prosthetics. The spin brought her around for a kick that sent Darui tumbling dangerously close to the flames. Tenten stared at him as he righted himself, and could almost feel his hatred for her. "...I don't want to kill you, Darui! There's only one person in this entire army that I want to fight, and you aren't him!"

"And there's only one person this entire army wants to fight. We'll stop you long before you get to the Raikage!" Tenten grimaced and kicked Darui's prosthetics into the fire, then teleported up into the air. Her second scroll of weapons with exploding tags attached was unfurled, and Tenten spread out her chakra to them and strung together the five hand seals she needed. The Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu took effect on an even larger area than before, and though the explosions weren't as large countless tree limbs were blown off and fell onto the army.

If there's ever a time I'm going to use it again, it would be now. Over to the right! Tenten popped up behind the massive wall of flames, and found that Kawatatsu was suddenly on her left. Reaching down her uniform shirt into her chest wraps, Tenten pulled out a small scroll not much bigger than her pointer finger, and opened it up to unseal the tool inside: the Bashosen. Wind! Three times the mighty fan was swung, massive gales gusting forth and sweeping the pale purple flames out towards the ninja army. Breathing heavily, Tenten hastily resealed and stored the scroll. "Still so many..."

"Keep your spirit strong, Tenten! Your war is not yet over!" Tenten nodded, and took one of her food pills, and also unsealing another katana to use. Then she turned North, and saw something that filled her with a fear that was like a bear trying to claw its way out of her chest. Coming in from the horizon was the Eight Tailed Beast, Gyuki. "I shall lead, here. Come!" Tenten landed on his back, and Kawatatsu flew off to meet Gyuki.

Why would they send their jinchuriki out to battle, wasn't an army enough?! What can I do against something that large and powerful...? I don't want to get close, but I don't have enough chakra for one of my fire jutsu, maybe not even enough for an earth jutsu. Rapidly Kawatatsu closed in, and Tenten's mind raced, buzzing and almost shaking apart as she searched for an option. Chakra Scalpel! Tenten touched Kawatatsu with her chakra, and he transferred a bit of his into her. Tiger, Horse, Rabbit, Rat, Dog! Her chakra focused and refined into a blade, as dragon and tailed beast collided Tenten jumped off. Their struggle was colossal and fierce, with Kawatatsu flowing and coiling around Gyuki, clawing it as the tailed beast pummeled it with its tails. Slamming Kawatatsu to the ground spat a cloud of ink at the dragon, only to have the dark liquid blown back in its face with a roar. Here Tenten chose to teleport in, landing on the back of Gyuki's neck and putting all the power she had left into lengthening her chakra blade, aiming to behead the beast. It made a narrow cut as long as her forearm, and Gyuki roared in annoyance. Before Tenten could think to teleport out she was grabbed and held up high in the air by one of his tails. Kawatatsu was slammed into the ground again, and thrown far into the sky. He was chased by a volley of Tailed Beast Bombs, which connected and detonated in a massive explosion. "NO!" When the dust settled Tenten teleported over, and found him lying on the ground amidst broken trees, his belly heavily damaged- almost gone. He stared into her eyes, the full weight of his age and pain settling on her. He stretched out his claw and rested it on her shoulder, transferring the last of his chakra to her. His eyes closing, his claw slipped off Tenten's shoulder and fell to the ground limply.

Behind her Tenten heard ninja approaching, and she turned to face them. They drew closer and closer as Tenten stood rooted in place, until suddenly they seemed to lose their coordination and toppled over. To her left a giant back bat landed, with a woman riding on its back. She stared into Tenten's eyes, searching out their depths. "...I didn't really believe A when he told me," Goro said, hopping off her bat summon, "But you are a little like Namikaze."

"I doesn't matter who I'm like right now," Tenten finally said. "I have bigger problems to deal with." Right on cue, the Eight Tails roared, and could be heard coming towards them.

"I'll distract it; you do your thing!" Goro leapt off into the trees, and Tenten sighed and focused on the chakra Kawatatsu had given to her. It filled her up, warm and strong. Drawing it out, she pulled up strength from the bones of the earth, and balanced everything together. She wove the hand seals and activated the "complete" Chakra Scalpel technique, and teleported above the canopy. There was a swarm of dark bats hovering around Gyuki, who was trying to swat them off.

Out of range of the tails...! Tenten flew forwards and slashed as hard as she could with her Chakra Scalpel, but instead of connecting straight down the middle of Gyuki's face as intended, the beast shook its head to fling off the bats and the attack cut into and through its right front horn! As it fell the bats dispersed into smoke, and a blade of wind cut deep into its right forearm, blood spraying out. Gyuki's arm broke off under its own weight, and the appendage was taken up to swing at Tenten. She teleported in close and swung with her Chakra Scalpel, getting it as hard and sharp as she could. The strike cut into and almost all the way through Gyuki's left forearm, which separated itself by the force of the strike. Back out! Tenten warped away, only to find herself right in the path of a dark wave of ink. Teleporting down below the canopy, she was barely able to avoid it, and heard a great crashing sound as she readied herself to teleport again. She waited, and nothing happened.

"Looks like we ran him off," Goro said, dropping down beside Tenten.

"But he could be back any time, and besides that being part octupus it wouldn't surprise me if the Eight Tails grew everything back." Tenten sighed, and through the trees could see Gyuki's horn. Hmm... "And that's not even counting the Tailed Beast Bomb, which we're lucky it didn't use on us." Tenten looked over to Goro, who she now noticed had blood dripping down from her lips. "...I've got some things I need to seal away."

"Gotcha. They're off to the North-West, by the way." Summoning a giant black bat, Goro hopped on and flew away. Tenten got out one of the empty scrolls in her flak jacket and warped over to the severed horn, inspecting it. I'll need to find a quiet place for that, or do it when the fighting dies down. Rolling out the scroll over the tip of the horn, Tenten made the Ram hand seal and focused, drawing the horn into the scroll. "Yes." The scroll was rolled up, and Tenten turned around and leapt away find Kawatatsu. He was close by, but his scales blended in with the trees, and Tenten missed him at first. Gulping, she got out the other empty scroll and sealed him into it, tears leaking out as she rolled it up and put it away. Alright. Okay. To the North-West? Let's go- Right as she crouched and jumped to fly, a group of ninja ran up behind her. "...What."

"So," The ninja asked, "Where am I going?"

"Wait, is that... Naruto? Why do you all look like me, and what are you doing here?"

"We're here because you're gonna be the only ninja that army sees protecting the Land of Fire!"

Tenten facepalmed and massaged her temples. "But, how did you get out here so fast? I set up the exploding tag line almost a day's run away from Konoha!"

"Remember how you taught me my old man's jutsu? Well, I thought it'd be a good idea to spread some of the kunai I have marked with it around Konoha." Naruto smirked. "So, where am I going?"

"Well, I am going out North-West of here." They ninja disguised as her looked back, resolute. "...And, uh, are there any Wind Release users besides Naruto out here? Maybe they could come with me..." Two hands went up, and Tenten nodded. "Let's move out!" As they sped out towards the army, Tenten looked over her shoulder. "I'm going to be above the canopy, and use a fire jutsu. Do you have any Wind Release jutsu to help speed it along?"

"Yeah! What's the range you'll be at?"

It's so weird hearing a guy's voice from my body... "Long range."

"Got it! Miina, you take the mid and I'll give the initial burst."

"Thanks!" After a moment more, Tenten called for a stop. Feeling with the magnetic force- the skin of the earth- she could sense ninja far ahead, at the edge of her range with the earth's skin. "...Let's move in another three hundred yards. Uh, Miina, you'd need to be a little less than fifty ahead of us." Miina and the other Tenten nodded, and moved into position. The male voiced her followed her up the tree, until he stood at the top of the canopy. "I'm going to fire on five, so get ready... One, two, three..." Snake, Horse, Dragon, Rat, Ram, Tiger! The pale purple flames jetted out, carried along and intensified by the gust of wind from below. Miina's wind jutsu fed the fires, and they spread out wider and wider. Then, after Tenten assumed the flames would have reached the army they wildly burst out in a massive whirlwind that uprooted trees and tossed them away. What?! "I'm going in! Let's meet up with Miina!" The Tenten's dashed forwards, and Miina jumped down to meet them.

"Who was that?" She asked, pointing behind her.

Tenten bit her lip, thinking for a moment. "I don't know her name, but I think she can be counted on to fight against the Kumo ninja. Hold on to my shoulders!" They grabbed on and Tenten teleported to the edge of the inferno, drawing her katana and and striking down a nearby ninja. Suddenly tight red beams of fire sliced through the ninja crowded in the trees, leaving them doused in flames. The melee was swarming with fires, the blazes coming from the beams of fires and the occasional jutsu the army used in its defense. "Shoulders!" The other Tentens held on again, and they teleported away. "Earth Style: Rampart of Flowing Soil!" The jutsu Tenten had used to create the dam at Nakamura Pass rose up from the earth behind her, sloping down towards the fire. Tenten took them back up to the top, and turned to the other Tentens. "Quick, use those same jutsu you used a moment ago!"

They nodded, and looked to each other. Silver beams of energy sliced through the trees on the slope, then they and swiftly wove the needed hand seals. "Great Breakthrough!" The gust of wind broke the trees and sent them tumbling down, the flames swirling up as they were engulfed in them. Tenten dropped down the side of the rampart, pulling out one of her weapon scrolls as she fell. It was opened and unleashed on the army once she reached the ground, several shinobi getting their faces ripped open. But as she saw them start to weave hand seals, once again they staggered and fell over. She warped back up to the dam, and looked around.

"That's twice today," Goro noted. She saw Miina and the other ninja, and raised her eyebrow. "Guess I didn't get the memo about the costume party."

"...You might as well go ahead and do it, since you're so good with the Transformation Jutsu."

Miina grabbed Goro's top and pulled her in, and whispered to her, "Once this is over I am taking my eye back."

"If you can find me, you're welcome to try." Goro stepped back and transformed, looking exactly like Tenten when the puff of smoke cleared.

That must have been the first's backup, if they were separated from them. Tenten hovered up and looked over the battlefield: two great fires, one larger and far away, and the second smaller and right in front. She drifted back down, and the male her spoke.

"Naruto and the others are starting to drive them back towards us! Tenten," He said, turning to her, "Could you create some sort of impediment to the left of the fire?"

"Impediment? I'll do more than that." Gathering energy from the Dragon Veins, she balanced it with her chakra and made use of the Planet Splitter jutsu, tearing open the earth as far away as she could. Now Bird, and- Tenten use the Falling Earth Spears along most of the same length, the spikes jutting out from the lip of the eastern edge of the chasm. Tenten took a few deep breaths, and shook her head clear. Although the food pill helped, and Kawatatsu had left her with an incredible amount of chakra, she had never used so many large scale jutsu so close together.

"Perfect. Miina, Path of Fear around to the right, I'll head over to the left!" Tenten left with the male her, and Goro split off to follow Miina.

"What's the Path of Fear?" Asked Tenten, as she and her double bounded towards the rip.

"One of my clan's genjutsu. It's used to implant, or intensify, fear within the target's mind. It also has the nifty side effect of inducing completely natural hallucinations, if you put enough power into it." The smirk from he doppleganger said that he intended to do just that. After several more moments on the run they came to the gap, and ran up to perch on the spikes. The male Tenten looked deep into the forest, for many long and silent moments. "...There we go. Spreading like a wildfire. They're heading towards us, get ready!" Boar, Horse, Tiger, Dragon, Snake! "Deranged Nirvana Jutsu: Path of Fear!" Making a triangle with his thumbs and pointers fingers, there was a ripple in the air near his hands that lasted until he broke off the genjutsu. Unseen by Tenten or the male her, a messenger bird flew up and away to the North. Soon after it, a chorus of screams and the shrieking of bats followed, drawing closer.

He didn't even need to make eye contact... Tenten shuddered, and took out one of her weapon scrolls. "Take this, and I'll cover the side to my left." The male her accepted it with a nod, and hopped away down the rift. Tenten went all the way to the southern end, and use the Fireball Jutsu to cover the gap between the fire she and Kawatatsu had started and the tear in the ground.

"Stay where you are..." Tenten whipped around to see who had whispered in her ear, but it was just her and her lookalike nearby. "We will be raising the hill and attack to the North, stay in place..."

"Who is this?!" The breeze around her shifted, and the whispering voice changed.

"Iwa's Hunter Squad ninja. Lord Tsuchikage learned who your village named to the squad, and we have been sent to assist them. Nothing more or less." The voice disappeared, and the breeze left Tenten.

How would they even know if those people are here? And how did they survive after that battle...? Tenten shook her head, and got out one of her weapon scrolls.

Hanabi had seen the wide-ranging jutsu take effect on the Kiri and Kumo army, a panic overtaking them like a severe case of diarrhea. Naruto led the charge with his Tenten clones, and once the bats flew in the army gave up the fight and fled North. Speeding ahead through the canopy, Hanabi aimed her kunai at those shinobi who were at the front of small groups, causing pileups that the lookalike army overran and mauled. She'd seen the break in the trees form and raced to it, getting set a small ways in and sniping the crazed ninja running towards her. As the ninja tripped over each other and piled up, that was when she saw the doppleganger surrounded by bats drop down and strike with her kunai at an insane speed. She'd never seen someone so fast in person, and hesitated to throw any kunai or shuriken into the crowd because of how quickly they were moving around. I guess I'll just have to join them! Hanabi activated her Byakugan and drew the tanto in her forearm warmers, then hopped down and danced over the shoulders of the frantic Kiri and Kumo ninja, knocking them into each other and stabbing into their necks. Very few of them made an effort to defend themselves, and those that did were easily overwhelmed. But in the midst of the melee, there was an enormous, rumbling blast that stopped almost everyone in their tracks. Hanabi continued running wild with her tanto, knowing situations like this seldom appeared...

The rumbling was what had initially caught Tenten's attention. Up North past the fire the hill rose up just as the Iwa ninja had said, even taller than the last time she'd seen it ground trembled, and then the large erupted with a gargantuan wave of molten lava and ash. It arced to the East, spreading out and then crashing down with remarkable speed. "Hey!" Tenten called over to her clone. "I'm going to head over towards the volcano, and see if I can drive them towards the lava!"

"Okay!" The male her turned towards the bewildered throng in the forest. "You two up front, come with me! Let's go!" He waved them over, and turned towards Tenten. She nodded, and teleported away.

There was a strong updraft of warm air near the lava, and the nearby trees had begun to catch fire. Several sharp flashes drew her eye, and she turned to see the ash cloud drifting down the hilll side sparking and then flare out eye-wateringly bright spears out lightning towards the woods to the North. She could see and hear the army regrouping East of the fire, and took a deep breath. "War's not over yet..." Flying around to the side of the lava field, Tenten ran through the hand seals and inhaled as deep as she could. "HRAAH!" The pale purple flames burst out in a wide stream, sweeping from the South to the North beyond the edges of the lava. Down! Okay... Snake, Dragon, Ram, UP! The earth behind the wall of flames erupted into the air, trees and chunks of earth flying up like popcorn out of a hot kettle. Tenten teleported into the air beside the fire to get a quick look at the scene, then warped back down to the ground and went under with the Hidden Mole Jutsu. Focus... okay, I think the lava is about that far away... Flesh, skin and bones- Earth Style: Antlion! Above ground the lava and forest rushed towards each other, sinking down into a wide pit. Without warning stiff winds swept the purple pyre towards the sinkhole, the escaping and retreating shinobi being blown back towards an almost certain doom.

Back down to normal... Thought Tenten, tucking the small scroll away in her chest wraps. As she drew her katana and circled around into the second division she saw Miina and the others springing through the canopy to the same destination. She touched down as they engaged the ninja, taking care to avoid the red beams of fire criscrossing the near ranks. The ceramic shuriken burst into annoying clusters of shrapnel when deflected. Suddenly one of her dopplegangers leapt in front of them and spun around, a blue sphere of light wrapping around her and deflecting the incoming shuriken and kunai back at the army.

"They're flanking us!" Goro warned.

"Miina! Could you help me out?" The girl shifted to stand beside Tenten, and leaned in. "I'm going to push them back with a fire jutsu around us. Do you have any wind jutsu that would work with a circle of flames?"

"No, and... I'm starting to run a little low on chakra. I've never used my Daiyagan this much before."

"I can help," Goro said. She deflected a shuriken and swapped places with Miina. "Go when you're ready!" Tenten drew in a little energy from the bones of the earth and balanced it with her chakra, and then used the Call of the Heavens jutsu. The ring of fire knocked back the ninja that had advanced from the front, and Goro gave a grunt of concentration as she formed the Ram hand seal and used her jutsu. "Wind Style: Pressure Damage!" The flaming circle roared up a pillar of fire and exploded outwards, trees bending and snapping off, flying away.

"Shoulders!" Her three lookalikes held on, and Tenten teleported them out to a small break in the forest she'd seen from above. "Let's catch our breath, stop here for a moment..." Tenten offered the others a few of her food pills, which were readily accepted and eaten.

"He's coming..." The ethereal whisper sent a chill down Tenten's spine, and moments later a gigantic wave of lightning tore up the ground as it crashed down on them. As Tenten dove for the others and teleported them out of the way, the attack missed by just the closest margin.

"ENOUGH! We will end this NOW!" The Raikage landed on the scene, but paused upon seeing the group of four Tentens. "Which one of you is the real one?"

Tenten stepped forwards, but Miina stiff-armed her out of the way. "I am."

"I am," The male Tenten declared.

"And so am I!" The others had stepped in front of Tenten, standing defiantly. Then behind them, a crowd of ninja ran up.

"...What? What boldness have you, is this mockery? Which of you is the real Tenten?!"

"I am!" Shouted Naruto. The others chimed in, regardless of whether they were male or not. "You see, we're all the real Tenten, because the hopes of Neji Hyuga and the Will of Fire are in all of us! Didn't you know? The Sun Bird never flies alone! You're gonna have to walk a flock of flames if you want to get to Konoha!"

Guys... Nudging her way to the front, Tenten came face to face with the Raikage. "...I'm the one you want. I have a feeling I know what you're gonna say, but I'll try it anyways: pull back your army. Take them back to Kumo. I won't step into the Land of Lightning, and in return you won't come near Konoha again, so this can all end here and now."

"Agreed." A wave of shock ran through the Konoha ninja, and A continued. "I will call off the ninja under my command, and return to Kumo. But," A growled, "You will die. By my hand. Today."

Tenten nodded and rolled up her sleeves. "Guys, clear out, now!"

"But-"

"NOW." Reluctantly, Naruto and the others fell back.

"Any last words?"

"Don't blink." Immediately following that, Tenten began warping around A, hammering him with her fastest blows. Horrifyingly, he was actually able to turn towards her before she could teleport away, but not quite able to land a blow. Going down low Tenten sprang up with a knee that lifted A into the air, then hovered and hit him with her hardest back kick, leaning over towards the ground. Pulling up her sleeve past her elbow, Tenten bit her thumb to draw blood and activated the Dragon Bomb trap with a swipe. It thundered out, a massive and intense pale purple dragon formed from flames, connecting with the Raikage and carrying him high into the air. Gathering all her strength in her legs, Tenten concentrated her chakra in them and jumped, spinning at blinding speeds. "Leaf Dragon God!" The kick's rotation stirred up a cyclone of wind that developed into a silvery transparent dragon. It merged with the blast of the Dragon Bomb trap, expanding the column of flames for a few moments before exploding in an incredibly, monstrously large explosion. Tenten shielded her face from the flames but was flattened against the ground, pinned there for a couple seconds. Don't burn up- come on, go go go! Her forearms felt like they were on fire; the pain shot up from them to her shoulders, but she stood and saw the Raikage as the flames dissipated. She warped up to him and continued her teleporting assault, spiking him down with a last stomp as she hovered in the air. One last jutsu, to end this! Flesh, skin, and bones- one flow... Tenten forced out almost all the chakra she had left into the Rasengan, the deep black-purple chakra sparkling and starting to hum as the rotation increased. The dirt and dust lifted off her scorched uniform and began to form rings around it, and with a bright flash it stabilized. Tenten yelled and warped into the Raikage, slamming him into the ground with a knee to his ribs before she slammed the Rasengan into his stomach. The ground shook and broke loose like a whirlwind around them, a vast crater forming. As the dust settled Tenten sucked in air, her breath ragged.

Then the Raikage punched her. Tenten rolled back a few feet, completely flabberghasted. She coughed up blood, and pushed herself up. A was severely slashed and burned all over, and all of his larger bones were visibly broken in multiple places, yet somehow the man was still in one piece and had been able to move. He was struggling to sit up, clearly in pain. He actually managed to do so, but with a shout Tenten sprang over and kneed him in the chest, knocking him back down. She collapsed on top of him, and clumsily began throwing punches at A's face. They weren't avoided, but A reached up his arm and touched Tenten, channeling his lightning chakra into. She stiffened up and aound between a grunt and a hiss forced its way past her lips, and she toppled over to the side, feeling like tingling needles had pierced every cell in her body. "I-" The Raikage coughed wetly- "Will not... fail... my village..." He tried to sit up again, but gave a sharp cry of pain and fell back to the earth.

"You haven't..." Tenten struggled to push herself to her hands and knees, the pain from her forearms so intense her vision went black for a few seconds as she vomited bile and the sandwich she'd eaten at the gate house. "...But you still lose." Drawing her katana, Tenten half swung half fell towards the Raikage, aiming to cut off his good hand. The cut was shallow and didn't even cut the tendons close to the surface; Tenten's grip on the katana had slipped as she fell. "Dammit!" Tenten flung the katana away, and started sobbing. She got up on her knees and started punching A again, and this time he didn't move to defend himself.

"That's it, you done enough! You've proven your point!" C was running at her, a kunai at the ready. He was intercepted by Hanabi, whose front kick sent him tumbling back. She flipped over and caught his kunai, then twisted to throw it away as she fell. It stuck into the ground and exploded, the blast kicking up a sheet of dirt over Tenten and A. Suddenly there were ninja all around: Tenten saw Sakura and C kneeling by the Raikage as she was pulled away from him, and someone else knelt beside him but she couldn't tell who as her vision started to fade.

"Tell him I'm sorry..." Tenten mumbled, and swiftly lost consciousness.

c=={=======

There was a hum in the room, and by the chemical clean scent Tenten knew she was in the hospital without opening her eyes. Then she did, and saw her forearms were covered in bandages. Hanabi was in a chair next to her hospital bed, looking at the floor and holding an old gray stuffed bunny with long skinny ears. "What's his name?"

"Hmm? Oh, you're awake! I wasn't looking... um, and her name is Haruko." Scanning the room to make sure it was clear, Hanabi pulled out a small scroll and sealed Haruko into it, before tucking the scroll back in her pocket. "Ahem. I have to go and inform Lady Tsunade you're awake. There are some people she wants you to talk to..." Hanabi stood and bowed, and quietly left the room.

Tenten sighed and looked at her forearms. Can still move my hands, good. About a day and a half to get back here, then probably the rest of that day and night. Two days? At least... What about Mei and the ninja coming in from the coast? They can't have gotten here any later than yesterday, and apparently everything in Konoha's still standing. Tenten tried to run her hand through her hair, but felt a prick in her arm. She pulled out the needle and shut off the I.V., and got her hair out of her eyes. I thought the food pill would help, but I guess there's not much you can do when you use that much chakra so fast... I wonder what happened to the Raikage. I'm probably going to get solitary confinement in the Strict Correctional Facility for what I did to him... or just executed, like those ninja from Iwa said I would be. Tenten sighed again, and folded her arms on her stomach. I really don't have a lot of options here. I went off to fight the joint army, like I said I would- and failed; and even though it was really sweet of them I didn't do it alone, either. The only way to go from here is down. And Kawatatsu... I guess I'm the last dragon, now. Her eyes watered, but no tears fell as she shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "But sometimes a dream is enough..." The minutes passed by in silence, a clock somewhere in the room ticking away the seconds.

The door opened, and Tsunade led a group of ninja into the room. She took a seat in one of the bedside chairs and gave Tenten a long, intrigued look. "Tenten, you are in a... unique position right now..."

"How am I in a unique position? I'm a war criminal, that's all there is to it."

"True, but you're also one of the most trusted ninja Konoha has right now. And after everything that's happened at Nakamura Pass and North of here in the forest, you also happen to be one of the most feared and hated ninja in the whole of the Five Great Nations. Ever." Tsunade looked up at the ninja behind her, who Tenten looked at for the first time. There was a man with spiky dark hair and red sunglasses, Kakashi, and Sakura.

The man with the red shades spoke up. "Part of the Inter-Village Missing Ninja Registry Treaty was the formation of a squad of ninja, from each of the Five Great Nations, that would hunt and capture or eliminate the ninja on the registry."

"And you would have been first on the list if you had taken your time in coming back to Konoha after the last Nakamura Pass incident," Kakashi added.

Wait, that one with the glasses- he must be that relative of Miina's... "Well, fine. I don't get what that has to do with me, though." As Tenten finished the door opened again, and two more ninja walked in. The first was a young man with short, spiky blue hair and glasses, carrying a huge sword on his back. The other was Mei Terumi. Tenten felt a brief spike of killing intent from her, and swallowed.

Tsunade looked up to Mei and inclined her head, before picking up after Kakashi. "What that has to do with you, Tenten, is that you were selected for the squad. And then the second little scuffle at the pass happened, and then this. Can you imagine how that looked to the other Kage?"

"I don't have to."

Mei stared at Tenten, and said, "I'll be very blunt: the only reason you are still alive is because you were in a coma before I got to you. And had you not made a... negative personal impression on me, I would have been willing to overlook your excursion to Nakamura Pass and voted to keep you on the squad."

"Though we made our own selections, those named to the squad would need approval from the other Kage, as after all, this was an international effort to track down international criminals."

Mei scowled. "Everyone else nominated from Konoha was approved unanimously. You, on the other hand, were not. There were your previously mentioned misdeeds taken into consideration, and in addition to that you are suspected of having stolen artifacts from Kumo."

"If they want the Bashosen back they can have it."

"Good." Mei stabbed another long stare into Tenten, and continued. "...As a man and the leader of a Hidden Village, A vehemently loathes you with every fiber of his being. But he surprised us; he vaguely implied you to be a fairly competent fighter and tracker. He voted against your inclusion in the squad, as did I." Tenten had to break eye contact, and noticed that her "worthless old hag" brand was no longer present on Mei's forehead. "...But the old Fence Sitter made an interesting comment. He said that positions of power lay shackles on a man, rather than free them. They have no freedom, as their newfound power only further enslaves them to the ideals they hold. They are many who would see you enslaved and imprisoned, and perhaps it was this train of thought that swayed the Kazekage." Another brief spike of killing intent lanced into Tenten, and Mei clenched her jaw. "You are now a member of the Inter-Village Hunter Squad. Congratulations," Mei added sarcastically. "From this point on, you effectively will cease to exist. Until you are dead or replaced- but most likely the former- any and all records of you will be erased. Your home will be sold, and you will live in your nation's operating base. A place, I might add, that was destroyed in the recent battle to your village's North- so until a new location is selected, you are now homeless. Any possessions of yours aside from ninja tools and equipment will be disposed of, and your bank account will be liquedated. Furthermore, your immediate family members will also be relocate-"

"I think she gets the point," Tsunade interrupted. "For the time being, the whole squad will be at their training ground outside of Kusa. Once everyone there gets on the same page, you'll come back to your unit base here." Tsunade sighed, and glanced at Tenten's forearms for a moment. "If you're well enough to move, I'd like to have our unit at the training base as soon as possible."

Tenten sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Why, what's the rush?"

Tsunade sighed deeply. "The woman who posed as Amane Tatsuyama is actually a criminal from Kumo named Goro Tenchihana. She is the first target on the list because, among other things, she recently stole one of Hinata Hyuga's eyes."

THE END