Tenten pretty much has only three attributes, she's good at sealing techniques(for her age), using ninja tools, and she wants to be like Tsunade. What if a perfect storm of circumstances led to those attributes leading to utter chaos?

In the wake of Nagato's attack on Konoha, few would blame you for panicking. The village destroyed, many shinobi incapacitated, the Hokage disabled and unlikely to recover, war on the horizon, Konoha was in deep trouble. But when the person panicking is in a newly formed research group, the Fuin Kenkyu Shotai, with access to the whole spectrum of forbidden and experimental techniques, and no oversight to control them, sometimes inadvisable things happen.

Formed after the death of Jiraiya, the FKS (Sealing Research Group) was Tsunade's reaction to the loss of his great fuinjutsu expertise, and an attempt to train people who might be able to take up his legacy. Unfortunately with Tsunade down after the Invasion of Pain, the Fuin Kenkyu Shotai is left with no guidance, but broad access to the stored jutsu and seal knowledge of Konoha. Danzo and Kakashi, the two people trying to pick up the pieces, don't know very much about them and largely ignore them, worsening the situation.

The team leader, an ANBU Captain way beyond his depth, decides that the only way to recover from the disasters that have plagued Konoha is to prevent them from happening in the first place. Drawing on records from the Second and Fourth Hokage, who both developed Space-Time Ninjutsu, they develop a jutsu capable of piercing the veil of time, and sending an object backwards in time, changing their own future.

But like all Space-Time Jutsu, the requirements scale as to the size of the object moved, and the distance required. Reasoning that a person would be too costly, they decide to send a message back in time as far as possible. So a miniscule special scroll is developed with every critical bit of intelligence, newly developed jutsu, and strategic information, and sent as far back as humanly possible, 13 years, taking the life of three team members and four ritual participants from complete chakra depletion.

The ANBU head of the Fuin Kenkyu Shotai himself collapses soon after, content that with this titanic effort. His world will disappear, replaced by one in which the Hokage could use the precious information to change the past.

UNFORTUNATELY, IN THE PAST:

A tiny scroll, it's immense stores of information contained by hundreds of overlapping seals, appears in the peaceful village of Konoha, three years before the Uchiha Massacre, simply inscribed, "To Senju Tsunade".

Tsunade is: NOT HERE.

The village was completely destroyed by Pain, so the position was approximate, missing the Hokage Tower by several hundred feet, falling to a tiny roadside park and lying unnoticed in a tree. Its complex seeking seals flare into being, but Tsunade is hundreds of miles away being a depressing alcoholic, so they find nothing to latch onto. Frustrated, and mistakenly not designed to do anything else (the panicked seal designers having forgotten or never known that the Slug Princess would not set foot in Konoha for years to come), the seals continue to struggle to draw the scroll to its intended recipient.

THE NEXT DAY:

A young (just five years old) Tenten, her tiny brain filled with stories of the Lady Tsunade, visits the park with her orphan cohorts. Maniacally declaring herself to be "Tsunade, hero kunoichi of Konoha," she regales her stunned fellow orphans with her exploits, throwing hoarded garden slugs at terrified bullies, righting manufactured injustice, and demonstrating a surprisingly deadly aim with "kunai"(rocks, mostly). After the group of orphans, in a rare show of solidarity, physically prevent further happenings of heroism at their expense, she contents herself by climbing the tall trees of the park, "scouting" for her fellow Konoha Nin.

That is where she finds a tiny scroll, labeled "To Senju Tsunade". Her eyes filling with perfect glee, she declares, "I am Senju Tsunade!" and reaches for the message. Like so many smart people, the seal designers outwitted themselves. Knowing so much about seals, they distrusted the common blood and heritage seals most used to protect messages to a single person, instead building a much more complicated security system involving invoked genjutsu and mental techniques that investigated the mind of the user, searching for deceit, identity concealing jutsu, body-possession, and controlling genjutsu on the bearer. The seals flare to life, probing her chakra and mind, finding only a perfectly innocent mind, with maniacal focus, no deceit, and the child-like absolute belief in her identity as Tsunade, hero kunoichi of Konoha.

The scroll unrolls in a blinding flash, the seals transferring their stored information in a bewildering torrent of memory jutsu, chakra sealing, and quickly crawling text. Tenten falls out of the tree like a stone. She lands in a bush with a resounding thump, her head still resonating with the deadly payload of every secret, dossier, and jutsu the FKS could jam into the scrolls.

"...A-Awesome", Tenten gasped, before finally submitting to the darkness.

Nono, the "Mother" in charge of the orphans, mused on the marked change in Tenten. A very boisterous girl, she had suddenly taken to spending much of her time with the ragged scrolls and books available in the orphanage playroom. Expanding beyond her well established hero-worship of the Lady Tsunade (which Nono approved of, in her quiet way), she had taken to studying what preparatory material was available for a ninja career. All orphans in Konoha were expected to be tested in turn for suitability for the Academy, although with the end of the last war and the subsequent dropping of pressure for new shinobi, less might be expected at their young age, many passed over for now or allowed to enter later.

Nonetheless, policy was still to begin testing early. The wartime heroes like Kakashi and Maito Gai (five and seven years old, respectively at their graduation) had taught Konoha to look for the seeds of genius even in the very young.

While Tenten had little instruction, and no known genetic history of shinobi behind her, Nono could sense her undeveloped chakra flaring, and see her rapid eyes on the preparatory texts. She hoped the Academy would be everything the young spitfire wanted. To be a genius was a burden, but it would honor the orphanage and the village that had sheltered her. It was said that Lady Tsunade was traveling, seeking new and greater medical ninjutsu, strangely absent from her victorious and adoring village. There were many rumors as to what the truth was, but they all agreed that she had not been seen in Konoha since the end of the war. Perhaps Tenten was reacting to the universal acclaim Senju Tsunade evoked, and the absence that was so keenly felt. She hoped her dream would not lead her into pain.

Tenten, curled in the corner of the orphanage playroom, read the Story of the Daring Kunoichi again. A simplistic tale, clearly meant to convey the basics of chakra use to kids without boring them to tears. Her thoughts raced. She felt her dual identity as the powerless orphan Tenten and the godlike Sannin Tsunade very keenly. At times she felt like she almost had all the knowledge and powers of a high ranking ninja of Konoha, but she was reminded like this that she was lacking even the most basic grounding in how the fundamentals of the ninja way functioned. What WAS chakra exactly? Why could she clearly visualize a ninjutsu of terrible power, a combined Earth-Wind Technique that was derived in her imagination from a towering monster of sand, yet be unable to name the elements of a simple bunshin? Clearly there was some discontinuity in her identity.

Perhaps attending the Academy would clarify it. So she was studying fiercely for the Examiner she knew would soon be visiting the Orphanage to test the children. If she could convince him to let her attend the academy, a whole new world of material would open up to her. She could feel the solution to her confusion there somewhere, waiting.

The Academy Examiner came to the orphanage not expecting much. The Konoha Orphanage, like most of its kind, were for those with no support mechanism. Talented children of ninja who were orphaned were often fostered by allied clans or families, even those without any preexisting bonds were snapped up by sponsors if they came from families known to be strong in some way.

The remaining children had two strikes then against them. First, they had no known pedigree. Naturally, chakra varying greatly between people was one of the supporting factors of the great families and clans of ninja. A Hyuuga or Uchiha has comparatively vast native reserves as a gift of their heritage, their coils smooth and well-developed. And second was simply one of upbringing; no one was supporting these orphans in the establishment of the lifelong habits of ninja, the physical training, memory exercises, cultural conditioning, and conscious control of bodily functions that, more fundamental than jutsu or ninja tools, truly made a shinobi.

Some of the children would by now have found their chakra and picked up enough background information and physical capability to pass the initial screening; particularly the older ones, their heads buzzing with the Konohan culture, a village devoted entirely to ninja life. They would most likely spend a few years in the Academy before becoming members of the mainstays of Konoha's forces, the Genin and Chuunin Corps, solid, dependable nin whose lack of family name would be instantly understood and quietly respected. An orphan cared for by Konoha coming to serve it in the field was only proper.

He set up his materials in a cramped spare room at the Orphanage, some scrolls, a roster of children, and a few practice weapons. Asking the matron to send in the youngest of the children he planned to test today.

-

Tenten got the signal from Nono, her instructions echoing in her little head. "Impress him as a potential ninja, little one". She gathered her meagre scavenged ninja tools, a scroll, several conveniently shaped rocks, a kunai she discovered half buried in the dirt, discarded white bandages wound around her hands to provide padding. She had managed to sneak away during the day sometime ago, consulting her mysterious memories for an list of training grounds that had required cleanup and repair for equipment use. She had discovered that ninja tended to clean up after themselves very well, but in the more destructive exchanges, some tools could get buried or flung far enough to be missed afterwards.

She paused in front of the imposing closed door, behind which waited the man who would decide if she was ninja enough to attend the Academy this year. She gathered her chakra.

Tenten was terrified. She knew that scraps she found on the ground and mysterious dreams about the future didn't make her a ninja. But Tsunade wasn't afraid of anything.

The Examiner was marking the previous kid, an engaging but extremely childish 4 year old blonde he sensed he ought to recognize from somewhere. No conscious chakra control or obvious academic ability that would suggest early admittance, but he sensed great latent chakra and seemingly boundless physical energy ought to lead to him passing in a few years. The first of the five year olds-

Bang! He looked sharply up as a three foot tall dark-haired girl kicked in the door. She seemed to hesitate as it shivered on its hinges against the wall from the force of the blow, but as her eyes found him, she drew herself up. Lifting a finger to point at him accusingly.

"BULLSEYE!" the little girl roared, "I AM HERE TO PROVE I AM A NINJA!"

The man had just begun to react to this when Tenten, perhaps sensing he had little to contribute to the conversation, lit her eyes on the practice weapons on the table. Her chubby hands dipped to her little bag, as she crouched to leap onto it.

"Hello, I-" the man began, trailing off as he dodged a barrage of rocks that would have dented his forehead, standing up and back from his seat as the little girl vaulted over the chair and onto the small table. He brought his hands up in a hopefully calming position as the girl leveled one of his practice tanto at his face.

"I will become a great kunoichi, a hero of this village." she informed him levelly. "Like TSUNADE!"

He could sense the chakra in her legs as she dove off the table into him, practice tanto leaving red marks on his arms and hands as long ingrained habit moved them into the least damaging positions to block the wildly swinging weapon. He noted somewhere in the back of his mind that her strikes greatly resembled the illustrated poses in the Standard Konoha Basic Taijutsu Manual, of which this orphanage had a copy. Along with the Regulation Handbook and Scroll of E-Rank Techniques, these were texts given to every Academy Student, so there were always in good supply in a place like this.

He moved throughout the room, doing his best to keep the blazing little aspiring kunoichi in front of him. Realizing she didn't have the height to swing the tanto properly, she returned to the rocks, filling the air with stinging projectiles, as he thanked the spirits he had worn gloves, he began smoothly catching them.

Wondering how to salvage the situation, it was clear the little girl thought she needed to defeat him somehow to prove she was capable of being a ninja. He began thinking of how to make the best of the already offtrack evaluation just as Tenten(that was her name), frustrated that her rocks were harmlessly deflected, let out a scream of pure fury, emptying her bag of rocks in a final rattling impact against his crossed arms. As he brought his hands back down to rest in a low guard, her own came into a surprising position.

Is she-

Tenten had done this successfully just twice, but the situation was perfect. A small chair was behind the Examiner, about her size, his guard was strong, but set in her direction, and his feet were flat on the ground. She focused her chakra in her core as she forced her hands into the awkward shapes. Ram, Boar, Ox, Dog, Snake! Kawarimi no Jutsu!

The inexpert jutsu tunneled her vision as she was pulled across the room violently, the chair flying into the opposite wall. But as expected she was safely behind the instructor, having bypassed his guard and better the chair crashing into the wall seemed to have drawn his eye. She gathered all the chakra she had available into her arm, remembering Tsunade's reports on the attempts to duplicate her destructive strength. Sadly her dreams had no answers, but even the failures were instructive, the dossiers she imagined reading comparing attempts to 'mere chakra reinforcement'. She knew from experience with intense focus she could bury her fist into the dirt with a thud that without chakra would have broken her hand. She swiped at the backs of the Examiner's knees desperately, knowing he would soon be facing in her direction.

The situation was deteriorating rapidly, the Examiner felt. A chakra-laden fist actually brushed the back of his leg, sending a shiver up his spine as he instinctively flicked up to the corner of the room, his hand dipping to a kunai pouch that didn't hang at his belt today. This needed to be more of a test and less of a duel with a 3 foot ping pong ball. "What is the fourth Shinobi Rule?" he barked on a sudden impulse.

Tentent froze momentarily, "A shinobi must always put the mission first!" she squawked back at him, gathering what was left of her chakra and bringing it to her knees, for a final leap up at the Examiner now hanging above her. Her fists clenched, she settled on a low strike at his face to dislodge him. As he settled on the other side of the room, she bounced back, drawing her precious hoarded kunai in a high guard as she rocketed into him, catching by surprise. He had time to push the point of the kunai past his head with a high block before her weight struck him in the face and shoulders, toppling them both to the ground.

"Bullseye!" she crowed, "one hundred shots, one hundred hits!"

Her legs were entangled in his arms in an awkward way, so she contented herself with raising the kunai for another strike at his face. He rolled expertly, depositing her on the ground and rising to his feet.

"Who is the ultimate authority in the village of Konoha?" he said.

She scowled, getting clumsily to her feet. "The Sandaime Hokage!"

He grabbed the small target against the wall and held it in front of him suggestively. Immediately brightening, she snatched the practice senbon they had spilled to the floor and hurled them with commendable accuracy. In the small room, she was only seven feet away, so her senbon clinked against each other in the center of the target. He put the target against the wall again, and gave the obviously tiring girl a reassuring smile.

"I think you have done very well, for such a young girl.." he began, as her finely honed detector of patronizing tones narrowed her eyes.

She fingered her last secret, hidden in her shirt. A torn scrap of paper with a seal she found and recognized from the Regulation Handbook's four described Standard Seals as a simple storage seal for inanimate objects. She had painstaking pasted the seal into a blank scroll, and through trial and error discovered what could be placed within in it. It would have to be her final technique.

She spun around, slinging the final senbon she had hidden in her hand at the Examiner to distract him as she struggled to quickly unstick the end the scroll. Throwing the center spindle and holding the free end in her teeth, it spiralled towards him, unrolling just as she'd practiced. "UNSEAL!", she screamed, her hands moving through the simple Ox, Hare sequence: "Tenten-style Dirt Destroyer!"

At this point the Examiner abandoned all pretense of decorum, his dive for the window not quite saving him from the stream of rocks and dirt that sprayed from the much abused scroll, quickly filling his side of the small room. The dirt and rocks filling his mouth, he came to rest half-buried in a soft pile. Spitting and struggling to free his legs, he opened his eyes just in time to see the little girl carefully draw the practice tanto across his neck, the inked edges leaving two red marks up and down his throat on both sides. He knew from long experience it would take two days for the marks to completely fade, even with scrubbing, and sighed, thinking of the conversations ahead of him at the Academy.

He looked at the panting little girl, who was waiting, trembling, with serious eyes on her knees, covered in dirt in the thoroughly destroyed little room. He could hear raised voices in the hall, debating whether to open the door to check on the noise. He suspected Tenten's name was being raised on the side of Not Opening the Door.

Wordlessly, he reached in his vest for a storage scroll. Unsealing a copy each of the newest Regulation Handbook, Scroll of E-Rank Techniques, and Standard Konoha Taijutu Manual, he handed the stack to the little girl, along with a practice pouch of training kunai, scrolls, inkpens, target shuriken, and packet of rope and wire.

"Tenten, do you Love the village and hope to help preserve peace and prosperity?" he intoned.

"Yes", she said without hesitation.

"Do you Have a mind that will not yield, able to endure hard training and work?"

"Yes"

"Are you healthy in mind and body?"

"Yes!" she said.

"You start in two weeks."

-

Trainee displays conscious control of chakra, command of background knowledge of Shinobi Regulations, and above average weapons skills for Academy Student. Chakra capacity low: stamina training recommended, Investigation for fuinjutsu talent and tactical insight scheduled. Provisional Access to E-Rank materials granted, training tools issued. Enrolled in Standard Academy Program, notation for possible accelerated placement pending psychological evaluation.

-

AN: Here we go people. Something a little lighter and more fun, maybe loosen up the fingers a little bit, I haven't given up on Konoha's Shining Serpent, but it's been slow going. Here's a little more fast and loose, and once I started thinking about that poor poor instructor, it was easy to write. Not the face, not the face!