disclaimer: I own none of these characters.

i. Tenten undoes her hair, her fingers already twitching to grasp strands into a braid.

She hasn't done this in ages. The therapist would say she's experiencing reversion to a simpler time, back when she was a girl and she wore her hair in braided twin pigtails. Tenten would say that's reaching.

It does remind her of simpler times, for sure, this monotonous action of twisting her hair together. Back when she was in grade school, she was often made fun of for appearing childish—too childish for her peers. This had been one of the kinder evils she had experienced. She was not rich like many of her classmates had been. In fact, her enrollment in private school had been a stroke of chance—her aunt had been the assistant headmistress and had some sway in choosing new students. That, and Tenten was precocious for her age.

"Tenten, what are you thinking?" says the therapist.

Tenten places her hands in her lap, leaving her braid half-undone. Her fidgeting has gotten a little out of control lately.

"I was thinking that I fidget more than I used to."

The therapist cocks her head, her gaze level. "What do you think the reason for that is?"

Tenten shrugs. "Sub-conscious level anxiety?" she proffers.

The therapist smiles, tight-lipped. Tenten notices her lipstick is smudged at the corner, probably from her lunch. "You don't have to answer like an analyst, Tenten. This is a place where you should feel free to express yourself."

Tenten purses her lips. "I don't think that would be a wise move for me to make."

"Why is that?"

Tenten almost rolls her eyes. She's no fool. Instead she says, "Look, there's no reason for us to pretend. I know that everything I say or do will be reported to my superiors, and that they will use that information to determine my termination or probation or whatever. These interviews will be used to incriminate me . . . or not."

The therapist makes some notes on her pad of paper. When she looks up again, her expression has shifted to curiosity. "Tenten, I was hired as an impartial party to this investigation. Anything I report to your superiors will be strictly clinical. I'm not here to judge you or incriminate you."

Tenten is silent and reaches up to finish her braid. As she snaps a rubber band to hold it, the therapist says, "Tell me about your childhood."

- o -

Tenten takes the train back to her office. It is three in the afternoon, and the train is crowded with children headed home from school. Tenten leans against a pole, watching the buildings and people flash by outside the window.

Her phone buzzes, and she glances down to see her supervisor, Maito Gai. She answers quietly.

"Tenten! Are you almost back?"

"Boss, I'm on the train. Can I call you back in a moment?" Tenten whispers, wincing from her supervisor's loud, buoyant voice.

"Of course!"

Tenten sheepishly hangs up and smiles weakly at the passengers around her, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

She gets off at the next stop, deciding to walk the few more blocks to the office building. She redials Gai's office number. He picks up immediately.

"So! How did it go?" he asks without preamble.

Tenten exhales. "Fine. I guess."

Gai harrumphs. "Did you express yourself?"

Tenten frowns. Her relationship with her boss is complicated—mostly because if she does get fired (which is increasingly likely), he will be the one to do it. It is also because they have a father-daughter rapport, rather than superior-subordinate, which is tricky to navigate among their department.

"I would rather not," Tenten replies.

"Tenten, how can you give yourself a good defense if you don't explain your side of things?"

Tenten flushes—in shame and embarrassment. She stays silent as Gai continues, "It wasn't your fault, what happened. It was a simple mistake. But no one will see it that way if they look at the face of it. You have a good reputation in the department. You don't have to lose your job over this."

"You make it seem so easy," Tenten laughs, not really finding it funny. "People will believe what they want. A good reputation means nothing if you're the one who got someone killed unnecessarily." The words leave a bitter taste in her mouth and a pang in her heart.

Gai seems to sense the tender emotions and moves on to a different subject. "When you get here, I need to brief you on some new developments."

This pricks Tenten's attention. Unofficially, she is on probation. She had been doing nothing but pushing paper around for the past several months, biding her time while the investigation was ongoing. She didn't even have her old computer anymore; the hard drive had been confiscated by Internal Affairs.

"Why?" she asks, puzzled.

"I can't say until you get here. It's confidential and we're not on a private line."

"Okay, I'm almost there. I'll come to your office."

Gai hums his approval and hangs up. Tenten quickens her steps, curious.

Tenten scans her identity card at the entrance and presents her badge to security. She is waved through lazily to the elevators.

Tenten attempts to get to Gai's office without making eye contact with anyone in her department. Not that they would look at her anyway. She is as good as a pariah these days, since the incident.

Gai is sitting ramrod straight at his desk when Tenten knocks on the door. He waves her in, gesturing that she should shut the door behind her.

"What's going on?" Tenten asks as she sits across from him.

Gai steeples his hands as he looks at her, his face drawn into an unnaturally serious expression.

"You've been requested to assist with an investigation. They need an analyst that speaks and reads fluent Chinese."

Tenten's forehead wrinkles in confusion. "But I'm on probation," she says.

"Unofficially. But since no official order has been given concerning you, there are no restrictions to your access."

"Why me? I know of at least three or four that speak and read Mandarin."

Gai shrugs. "As far as I know, you were requested specifically."

Tenten's mouth bubbles with questions. "What am I being asked to investigate?"

"I don't know all the details, but apparently there is a Chinese mainlander plotting something in the Higashi Shina Kai." (1)

"That doesn't sound like something I should be asked to help with. Our department is strictly domestic affairs."

Gai smiles tightly. "It will become a domestic affair if let unchecked, apparently. Nonetheless, you were specially requested. And it's not like your workload is particularly heavy these days. You're supposed to meet with the investigative team at four-thirty."

Tenten checks her watch. She had around half an hour to do some research. She gets to her feet and places her hand on the doorknob. She looks over her shoulder at Gai, giving him a confused look.

"Do you know who requested me for this?"

Gai nods. "Neji Hyuga."

Tenten blinks, but if she is surprised, this is the only tic she gives. She leaves Gai's office without another word and walks to her desk, firing up her new laptop.

(1) East China Sea. It separates Japan and China.