A/N: I like Tenten as a character. Her abilities are pretty cool. This story isn't AU. It's actually going to take place right before Shippuden occurs. Hopefully if people like this story, I was planning on starting it during the regular Naruto and having the story transcend into the Shippuden storyline. But we'll get to that later on. Anyways on to the story!
Note: Hey, I never said I owned Naruto but my creativity that's all mine!
The Panda and the Fox
I: An Unlikely Mission
"You're kidding right?" Tenten asked with a horror expression on her face.
Tsunade shook her head.
"You're kidding right?" Tenten asked seriously.
"It's a B-rank mission and it only requires two people. Since there are no present S-rank missions it gave me room to put some of the ANBU and most of the Jonin out on all the A-rank missions" Tsunade began. "Since that leaves no high rank missions at the moment it gives Konoha time to finish off a good number of B and C-rank missions that have been building up over time."
"With all do respect Tsunade-sama how is this supposed to work?" Tenten asked hardly caring about the excuse Tsunade just gave her.
'Even I don't know how this supposed to work' Tsunade thought to herself. She looked up to see Tenten staring dead at her. "Oh come on you two have great experience on the same team" she lied, putting on a big smile to cover it up.
"But, we've only worked together on two missions and I had the rest of my team with me both times" Tenten pleaded.
Tsunade began to grow impatient "I'm sorry Tenten but you have you're assignment. Now where the hell is Naru-"
"WHHHAAAATTT!!!"
Naruto bolted into Tsunade's office rushing right past Tenten all the way up to Tsunade's desk. A tired and dazed Shizune followed.
"Hey old lady Tsunade, what's this I hear about you giving me a B-rank mission" Naruto yelled.
Anger slashed itself onto Tsunade face.
"What did I tell you about calling me old lady!?" Tsunade yelled back. She grabbed Naruto's right ear and began to pull at it with force.
"DAMMIT OLD LADY!!!" Naruto yelled in pain.
"DID YOU NOT JUST HEAR WHAT I SAID!?" Tsunade said as she yanked him onto the ground then respectively went back and sat at her desk.
"Geez, why do you do this to me Naruto?" she asked.
"HEY, this is your fault. You know I only do S-rank missions and higher"
Tenten put her hands on her face. 'Idiot, there's nothing higher than S-rank.'
Tsunade took a deep breath and signed. She didn't have time for this. She closed her eyes and said in a low but angered tone "You will accept this mission or you will get no missions!"
Naruto instantly shut up as Shizune's eyes shot open. 'You mean to tell me that's all I had to say to get him to come with me without a hassle?!'
Shizune had spent the whole day looking for Naruto and when she finally found him it had taken nearly an hour just to get him to come back to Tsunade's office with her. Shizune signed at the thought of just losing her day to the blonde haired ninja.
Naruto finally noticed Tenten and asked "What's she doing here? I don't need anyone for such an easy mission."
Tenten's face instantly became mean. "Do I really have to take him on this mission?"
"Take me" Naruto started. "What do you mean take m-"
"ENOUGH" Tsunade shouted so loudly that even Shizune got scared and stood up straight. "Your mission is as stated; you are to go to the Country of the Wave, which you should be familiar with Naruto."
Naruto would never forget it. It was his first true mission that they took as a C-rank but in all actuality turned out to be an A-rank mission. It was there where he first learned of a ninja's true capabilities from his enemies Zabuza and Haku. Although to this day he still didn't believe them to be truly bad people but instead just caught in different circumstances.
"When you get to the village you are to pick up two documents from a man named Shima then bring them back here" Tsunade continued. "Tenten is the leader for this group" she added before bringing her attention back to the papers on her desk.
Tenten nodded then began to walk out but Naruto just stood there, mouth agape.
Tsunade looked up at him.
"What is it?" she asked.
"That's it?" Naruto answered. "That's all I get, a mission to retrieve documents? What the hell is that?"
Tsunade smiled. "You know what, you're right."
"I am" Naruto replied pointing up at himself.
"Yeah, this mission is too basic for you. How about we just let you wait about a week or two, maybe even three until we find a better mission for you. Would you like that?" Tsunade said cheerfully.
Naruto cursed in his thoughts and made a pissed face. "Fine I'm going" he said as he began to walk out.
"Thank you" Tsunade beamed.
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Naruto and Tenten slowly walked out of the village.
"Alright, lets get a move on" Naruto yelled.
"Are you serious, you just took an hour packing your things and now you're finally ready to go" Tenten argued.
"Well…yeah" Naruto replied.
Tenten let out a deep breath. "Look first we need a plan."
"Why, all we're doing is going to get a bunch of random documents" said Naruto resting his hands on his head.
"It's two documents to be exact and even the most basic mission requires planning" Tenten said as she pulled out a map. "Our destination is here."
She pointed to the wave country on her map. "It will take us about two days to reach the village. We'll go east from Konoha until we reach the ocean. Then we'll take a boat to the islands of the Country of the Wave. Once there we'll get the documents and get supplies for the way back" she said as she closed the map. She looked up to see nothing but the dirt road ahead.
"What the-" Tenten turned around to find Naruto looking at some berries growing on a bush.
When Naruto noticed her looking at him he put on a dull face. "Hey Tenten do you think these are edibl-…owwww!"
Naruto fell to the ground clutching the top of his head while Tenten unclenched her fist and continued walking.
'I hate you!'
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Shizune walked into the office as the sun began to set beckoning for the evening to come. The sunlight filled the room with a bright orange and yellowish light that made Tsunade hard to see in front of her.
"Are you sure that it was safe to send those two out on a mission together?" Shizune asked covering her eyes to block out the sunlight. "They seem to be not well suited for each other in any way possible."
Tsunade looked up at her. "That's exactly why I chose this B-rank mission for them." She said holding the mission scroll up. "If they have to fight then it will just be some common thugs. It's short and sweet. Besides I think it's good to let people who wouldn't normally spend time together get to know each other" she added.
"I guess you're right Tsunade-sama" Shizune said as she began to shuffle out some documents in her hands.
Tsunade stood up and walked over to the window. The suns rays streaked along her blonde hair turning it into a gold color. She had known Naruto for a bit of awhile now. He was the first child she had met from Konoha in a while after leaving the village but he was also the most troublesome. She worried for him like a mother and couldn't help but get a small feeling in the pit of her stomach.
'Naruto, somehow someway your missions always turn out to be more than what was expected. But I really hope this mission won't be one of those times!'
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The sun began to set on the Country of Fire as Tenten and Naruto made their way east towards the ocean. Leaves flew by as they jumped from branch to branch.
'Well at least we're moving at a decent pace' Tenten thought to herself.
She had threatened to leave Naruto behind if he was going to act like an idiot for the rest of the mission. Despite not having her team it was still a B-rank mission and if completed it still counted towards her record. She had already completed nine D-rank and seven C-rank missions. But she only had three B-rank and no A-rank missions on her profile. She wanted to keep up and have a nice balanced stat sheet. Whoever she was with she was going to complete the mission.
The sun finally set leaving the purple and blue aura of the night sky. Stars were beginning to show but the moon had already made its entrance.
"We're stopping now" Tenten said as she descended onto the ground.
"But we can still keep-"
Tenten gave Naruto an angry face. "Look this is my first time being a leader of a mission and I'm not a Chunin yet. I don't need you making me look bad. So just be quiet and listen to what I tell you!" she said angrily before opening her backpack to set up camp.
'Sheesh, she's even more bossy then Sakura!' Naruto thought to himself.
The night continued on as Tenten continued making rice and tea over a small fire she had prepared. The yellow flame brushed against the side of the thin bamboo cups heating the green tea inside. The rice boiled and cracked as it cooked. Tenten looked up to see Naruto staring at the sky. He hadn't said a word all evening after she yelled at him.
'Maybe I was too hard on him' she thought to herself. She wasn't known to be mean like that. She opened her mouth to apologize but was cut of by Naruto.
"Tenten" he said keeping his back to her and his eyes on the sky.
"Y-yes"
"I'm sorry…I refuse to fail this mission and I will never jeopardize your leadership again. I'm going to become the Hokage some day so I need lots of missions under my belt too" Naruto said as he turned and smiled at her.
That was one thing she was used to him saying. She watched as Naruto's smile faded and turned sad-like as he began to look up at the night sky again. Fearing that he would completely lose all of his personality for the rest of the mission Tenten quickly spoke out.
"You know maybe Sakura would like you more if you were a bit more serious!"
Naruto turned to her. "You think she like's me?" he asked, his smile instantly returning.
"You should also listen more" Tenten smiled back. "I said that maybe she would like you more. That has nothing to do with her actually liking you in that way" she said sticking her pinky up (means girlfriend) as an example.
Naruto looked at Tenten. The fire next to her lit up her eyes, in a way bringing more passion to her face. Her clothes looked red next to the flame stirring up a look Naruto had never seen before in her.
"Also you could be a little less hyperactive, she might think you're crazy" Tenten added cutting Naruto off from his thoughts.
Naruto's mouth shot open. "WHAT!"
He began to yell at her as Tenten giggled, successfully getting his personality back. She turned back to the fire to finish preparing the food as Naruto pleaded his case. A long day awaited them tomorrow as right now was just the beginning.
To be continued…
A/N: Well there it is the first chapter. Please review or comment on how you think it's going so far, I can really use the support. I don't usually do stories like this but I want to widen my genre range so tell me what you think, I appreciate it. Next chapter will be up very soon. Til' then.