*Thwock*
"HIYAH!"
*Swoosh*
Tenten walked chirpily over to the training ground where the other members of team Gai were training vigorously for a new mission. She sighed at the oh so familiar sight of her ex-sensei and best friend, sobbing with their arms thrown round each other, they had obviously just recently finished one of their 'youthful' training session.
"Heyy, Neji!" She waved her arm above her head and sped up to meet him below a shady tree. She leant over him and offered out her hand, he took it, hesitantly. Tenten didn't mind though, he had come so far since the chuunin exam fight with Naruto all those years ago.
"Hn" was his only response as he stood up quickly and walked over to meet the youthful duo stretching out their muscles. That was always his only response, but somehow, it just seemed so right to Tenten, She never got any real emotion out of him, but that was just his way, and she didn't mind all that much.
She proceeded to follow Neji over to Gai and Lee, waving and smiling at them both as they did so. She adjusted her bag and scroll before reminding her ever-forgetful (ex)Sempai of the mission they were due to leave for. Today.
"Thank you Tenten, once again the Chrysanthemum of the Hidden Leaf has kept Team Gai on track!" He gave her a quick thumbs up before picking up his bag, and wiping the remaining tears off his face.
The adolescent girl giggled quietly before they all set off towards the main gate, expecting the quickly approaching mission to be an easy one. I mean, they were team Gai, they could handle anything.
Suna
"Hey, Temari?" leant in the doorway of the living room, a quizzical puppet master stood, arms crossed.
"Huh? What is it Kankuro?" she turned her head slightly to meet his eyes.
"The scouting mission? There's supposed to be a team from Konoha here in 3 days for it, right?"
"What of it?" she stood slowly and placed a scroll on the table neatly.
"Meh, just wondering really, if it was Naruto's team" He sighed and went to leave.
"Hey, Kankuro, I understand why" she gently placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, her eyes studying the floor.
"We never had the chance to thank him properly, we owe that kid so much, along with Sakura and Kakashi. Not to mention Elder Chiyo. They saved our baby brother, and I'm grateful, the whole village is" she sounded almost sad when she spoke, but it was calming to listen to her serious voice for a change. She was a strong woman and always sounded so, motivational when she spoke.
"Yeah I know, I just feel like I owe my life to him, and Konoha"
After three days of almost constant walking, little Tenten was seriously knackered. And considering they were just coming up to Suna gates, which just so happened to be in THE hottest desert ever, She was pretty hot too.
She sighed at the realisation that they still had to walk all the way to the Kazekages office, on the other damn side of the village. Tenten let her mind run over the mission briefing for the third time this journey. 'We were to go to Sunagakure on suspicions of a group of highly skilled ninja planning to invade the village, what they wanted was unknown. We were to investigate the entire village for any unusual behaviour. But apparently it would be too suspicious to the enemy if the Sand shinobi started asking around, as by now, its believed that the enemies have been staying in the village for some time now. And so they would recognise the sand Ninja. Remember, they are skilled, but you are too, I have faith in you, and our best tracking and surveillance team are already out on a mission…' Tsunade had such a way with words.
"Welcome to Suna, You must be team Gai, am I correct?" She snapped back to reality as she heard an almost emotionless, yet familiar voice.
Tenten stared blankly around the room, blinking a few times before realising that she was in the Kazekages's office, opposite the Kazekage. 'Damn'. She needed to stop doing that. She heard Gai-sensei confirm our identity, before Gaara-sama spoke again.
"Alright then, I assume you've had a briefing, your mission starts tomorrow. Good luck. Temari, Kankuro, show our guests to their apartments they will be staying in". He sat down calmly in his chair, before motioning to his siblings to leave. He almost had a quaint smile on his face, almost.
They all left the room quietly, Temari closing the door behind us before turning to Kankuro and sheepishly adding; "Well, I need to go back to Konoha, so I have to leave today. Y'know, the chuunin exams need some more preparation and stuff, so I'll see you in about two weeks, you be ok till then baby bro?" she smirked at him before putting her hand on his shoulder and giving him a serious nod
"Eh, Chuunin exams? Pfft, more like to see your little Shikamaru" he smirked back at her before turning to the Konoha team and signalling for them to keep walking.
"Good luck you guys!" she waved happily before turning to walk in the other direction.
Kankuro sighed and walked faster to catch up with them. They carried on walking for about another 15 minutes, much to Tenten's dislike, before they stopped outside a large wooden door.
"Well, we're here, there's 3 single beds in there, on suite bathroom, and all the necessities, feel free to use whatever. Need something just ask" he unlocked the door then handed Gai-Sensei the key.
Gai and Lee walked in, obviously impressed by Tsunade and Gaara's choice in living conditions for the team. Neji walked in, didn't say much. Well, didn't say anything really. Tenten stepped through the doorway, also quite shocked at the huge apartment, staring into the living area thinking about running and taxing the bed next to the window. She was stopped by a rough hand holding onto my arm.
"Hey!" She turned abruptly to see Kankuro leaning in the doorway, looking slightly bothered.
"Tsunade ordered that you have your own apartment, she didn't want you staying with 2 boys, and Gai" he let go of her arm gently.
"She-, heh, well that's Tsunade for you" Tenten giggled quietly before smiling sweetly at him.
"So, where am I staying?"
"Hm? Oh, it's a few doors down, ill show you" he pointed down the hallway then took off in the direction of which he was pointing.
She followed close behind, careful not to step on the backs of his feet. She inwardly thanked Tsunade for giving her a separate apartment, mentally noting to buy her a bottle of sake when she got back, as a thank you gift. Spending two weeks with Gai, spread out precariously on the sofa he'd insist to sleep on, in nothing but his extremely short boxers was not a pretty sight. Nor was the way he was convinced that he'd only ruin his 'youthful spandex' if he wore them to sleep. Sheesh, now that's a memory She'd never forget. Tenten shuddered at the horrible thought, trying to push the image from her mind She focused on something else. The Puppet-master walking a foot in front of her.
Remembering him vaguely, She prodded about her memory to see what she could find. What she did remember of him was totally different from how he appeared now, he used to be smug, smart-mouthed and arrogant. And although the way he manoeuvred his puppet to instantly kill that gennin in the preliminaries was conceited and dark, She had took a kind of liking to it. For some reason, it impressed her.
"Um, you going in?" Kankuro was now standing opposite me, waving his hand in front of her face, his other arm outstretched, holding her door key. He had a genuine look of concern on his face.
"huh-? Oh, yeah" the girl's cheeks threatened to turn pink as she shyly took the keys from his hand. Her eyes pondered on them for a while, noticing the small individual scars dotted about it.
"The scars?" he asked, lifting his hand in front of me.
"Hm? Uhh, I was just wondering how you got them, since your fighting style is generally long-distance, right?"
"Meh, you think I'd let an enemy get close enough to me to do this damage? Nah, this is from constantly fixing Karasu, Black Ant and Salamander. Heh, you'd think I'd remember where all the blades are by now"
"Oh, I remember Karasu from the Chuunins. He's creepy, but cool none-the-less. I bet he's great for intimidating the enemy" She giggled nervously, noticing how confused he looked and hoping she hadn't offended him.
"Wha-? Wow, you're the first girl besides Temari that hasn't Insisted I was gay because I fight with 'dolls'" he scratched his neck nervously.
She stifled her laughter as the thought of the 'great puppet master' playing with little dolls crept into her head.
"Well I better be off, mission starts tomorrow, see ya" She waved sweetly, well, awkwardly, at the boy opposite her before turning to head inside the apartment.
"Hey wait" He took a step towards her, She moved her head round tiredly so that she could see him, but not too much, She was tired and pretty groggy. He hesitated for a few seconds before managing a sentence.