Chapter 2: Calm Before the Storm

"speaking"

'thinking'

Summary: No one knows where Tenten lives, no one knows her parents, her surname, not even where she's actually from. No one suspected, she's not even from their world. She is Echizen Tenko, a senior at Seishun High Schol, known in their world as "The Kunoichi". She is the Samurai Nanjiro's niece and the Prince's cousin. Since she was seven she was a messenger between the two worlds, providing communication between the Hogake and a secret correspondent. She's fed up, though, with going back and forth, always lying. So she makes a choice. Konoha or Tokyo? She chooses Tokyo. She goes on one of her "every other week solo missions" and does not return for a month and a half. Tsunade, worried that she may need to find another loyal correspondent, sends a search and rescue team to get her back. Tenten's secrets are about to be revealed... And not just one.
Takes place after the Sanbi arc.

Disclaimer: GDC does not own either of Naruto or The Prince of Tennis series.

"That's the third cup that cracked while I read Tenten's file." Tsunade muttered, wiping off tea from her desk with a tissue. "And that girl hasn't returned in three weeks! She's not one to come late... something's happened to our only correspondence to that world."

Tsunade stood up and started pacing behind her desk.

The hem of her jacket caught the edge of a pile of paper, and the floor was soon a sea of forms. Tsunade clicked her tongue and started clearing up the mess.

Just then there was a knock on the door.

"What!?" Tsunade snapped. This was not a good day for her.

"Tsunade-sama? There's someone here to see you..."

"Oh great... send them in." The pile of papers were disorganized now, but that didn't matter, she needed to listen to yet another complaint from a citizen. Oh how interesting!

There was slight chuckling in the room.

"I never knew you felt that way, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade looked up to find Neji smirking at her. Oh that insolent boy... "Oh, did I speak aloud? Yes, this is why people don't want to become Hokage! But back to matters. Why did you come here? Again!"

"Tsunade-sama, I just came here to make sure- Tenten still has not arrived in Konoha?"

"No Neji, she still hasn't come back. Will you stop coming to my office every day?"

Neji stiffened. "Alright then Tsunade-sama. But I expect that Lee will be in here soon enough after I leave."

He left in a swirl of leaves.

"Alright. If she doesn't arrive in another three weeks I'm sending a search team out for her." Tsunade muttered, just as the two advisors and Danzo came into the office. She looked up and scowled at them. "What do you want?"

Danzo opened his mouth. "Tsunade, there has been a report from Jiraiya that the Akatsuki has successfully captured the Sanbi."

Tsunade rubbed her temples. "So the only demons they are missing are the Ochibi and the Kyuubi."

"Exactly."

"There has to be something done about the Kyuubi child so Akatsuki does not attack Konoha, when the time comes at all."

"No! Naruto stays here." Tsunade pounded her desk, startling the others.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune's voice carried from outside the door. "Sakura's here to see you about something!"

"This will continue next time, Tsunade-hime." Homura said.

"Just get out of my office." Tsunade leaned her head against her right hand.

The three walked out without another word and Sakura entered, looking confused.

"Tsunade-sama? What was that about?"

"Nothing... nothing... At least not yet anything."

Tenten stood, panting, at the baseline of the dirt tennis court outside of her uncle's house. There was a grin on her face, however, as she was very much enjoying herself indeed.

"Ryoma! Ready to give up just yet?" She shouted over to the other side of the court, to her cousin two years younger than her.

"Mada mada dane!" And the ball was served, a bright streak of yellow.

"You're the one lacking here!" Her counterpunch was just as fast, and landed at the corner just inside of the singles court, exactly where she wanted it.

Ryoma, using his split-step, was behind the ball, just getting into position. There was an equally large grin on his face, and his golden eyes flashed in the sun. He shot the ball right down the middle, and Tenten ran to get it.

Tenten changed the course of the ball so that it landed just as her previous shot did, at the corner of the same side of the court. Ryoma had expected it on the other side; he now scrambled to just reach the ball.

It landed on the front half of the court, and Tenten glared at her cousin for a split second before running to get it. Her ball arched up- a perfect lob.

"Drive B!"

Tenten's eyes widened, but it was too late- Ryoma was on the floor, creating a small dust cloud as he jumped up to reach the arching ball... She shook herself out of her staring and rushed to the base line, just in time to hit back with a straight shot.

Ryoma's shot was hurried and landed, again, in the front half.

Tenten sighed internally. Her cousin had to be doing this on purpose, aiming at her weakness. Outwards, she sprinted forwards, changing her stance at the last moment and slicing the ball.

Ryoma did not expect this. He dived forwards but too late; the ball had already bounced twice on his side of the court.

"Drop shot!" Tenten sing-songed, smirking at him.

"Che, when did you get so good at changing your stance at the last moment?"

"Just get the ball, junior, and serve so we can go on another round!"

Rinko came into the court just then. "Ryoma, Tenko, why don't you stop playing and grab lunch? You've been going on for two hours!"

Tenten and Ryoma looked at each other, then back at Rinko. "Mada mada!" They exclaimed as one, then started laughing.

Rinko sighed. "I'm going to get Nanjiro."

"Go get him." Ryoma said nonchalantly, and Tenten mimicked him.

"He'll probably just watch us anyway."

"And give us corrections and commentary."

"And then berate you for just losing your service game." Tenten teased.

"So, you did as well just before!" Ryoma shot back.

"Yeah, and the score's 6-6."

There was a comfortable silence, broken by Ryoma's stomach growling. The two of them laughed, then shouldered their racquets. Perhaps it was time to get something to eat.

"So... Did ya beat her yet?" Nanjiro clasped a hand on Ryoma's shoulder just as he was raising his spoon to his mouth, and the younger Echizen scowled.

"No, even if it was only a clone here she's improved a lot by being on the girls' team. And I still can't beat her."

"Of course, Ryoma. I'm two years older than you!" Tenten spoke as if to a little kid.

"Ryoga's older five years older and I still beat him..."

"That was three years ago, chibisuke. You still haven't played me once since then." Ryoga entered the dining room with Nanako and Rinko, all three holding some sort of dish.

"Che, I'll play you today then!"

"Eh? After I beat you first!" Tenten grinned at him.

"No, I'll get you this time!" Ryoma glared at her.

Tenten set down her spoon. "I'm done eating! Thanks for the meal!" And she ran out to the dirt court, again. Ryoma soon took off after her, setting down his chopsticks with a clang.

Rinko sighed once more. "How did I ever get caught up in a family so obsessed with this sport called tennis?"

"Because you said yes to me when I asked you to marry me." Nanjiro hugged Rinko from behind, taking her by surprise.

"Yes, I suppose I did." Rinko turned her head back to kiss her husband square on the lips.

Ryoga scowled and shouted at them, "Get a room!" Nanako only laughed at her adopted cousin's antics.

"Why don't you just go outside and watch the match between Ryoma and Tenko?"

"Yeah, I think I'll do that." Ryoga muttered and grabbed his own racquet before sauntering off outside, onto the dirt courts where Tenten and Ryoma were already caught up in a high-speed rally.

"Yo! Wanna add another ball to that?" Ryoga shouted, and before Ryoma or Tenten could protest lobbed a ball over to Ryoma. Ryoma scowled but hit the new ball to Tenten, and soon the three were passing back and forth two balls in a triangle.

The match between Ryoma and Tenten was forgotten, and the score was left 7-6, 7-6, and 6-6.

"Tenten." Nanjiro sat down on the couch next to where Tenten had been listening to her iPod, drawing a time-table for the upcoming tennis team she would have to lead.

"Hm?" Tenten pulled her left earphone out, so that she could hear what her uncle had to say to her. "What?"

"It's been a month, Tenten, since you took up the name Tenko. Are you still sure about leaving everything there behind to stay in this world?"

Tenten sighed in frustration. "Uncle. I already told you repeatedly, I want to stay here. When I'm in Konoha, I feel so deprived. There I'm a nobody. Oh, the only weapons mistress Konoha's seen in a long time, but not much more than that. I had a limited amount of friends, and wouldn't have been happy there without my favorite hobbies... and sport."

"You were a proficient kunoichi, I know that. Don't tell me that it was only to increase your skills as a tennis player."

"I was never as interested in being a kunoichi as being a tennis player! Besides, since my chakra levels were pretty low while my stamina and physical skills were pretty high, I was always cut out to be a better sports person than a ninja."

"That's what they call it there, right? Chakra."

"Yep, the energy that comes around you when you unlock the three doors of Myuuga no Kyochi." Tenten stated, bored, and went back to marking the sheet that she was working on before.

"Your levels were high enough to achieve all three of Myuuga no Kyochi, Tenko."

"So?"

"And the control had to be good to unlock all three."

"Your point is?"

"You could get back there and work on your skills in other than Taijutsu, Fujinjutsu, and Kenjutsu! You could become powerful, if you just wanted!"

"Precisely! I don't want to be another ninja in that corrupted world! You shared your opinions with me when I told you about the turmoil there! I had to disentangle myself with the world I didn't even belong to before I couldn't come back here!"

"Alright... I'll leave you alone then. You can't go back as soon as a month passes. And I know I still sometimes miss the Samurai world." Nanjiro heaved himself up from the couch and wandered off, probably to get his hands on those magazines of his.

"I do not miss Konoha." Tenten whispered, hands clenched. "I do not miss it, I don't want to go back, I want to cut ties forever."

A tear started to form at the corner of her left eye but she shook it away, dismissing it.

"I am happy in this world." Tenten kept telling herself, until Ryoma came in looking for her, her friends wanted to go see another movie. Until she believed it, the words etched into her mind.

"Ten-chan!" A girl with brown, wavy hair called out to Tenten, waving her arms. She had a subtle tint of make-up on; a hint of mascara, foundation and blush just brushed on. Rose-colored lip-gloss completed the look.

"Ami!" Tenten waved back, "Yukiko! Mei!"

"About time, Tenko." Yukiko was a slight girl with straight black hair that fell to her shoulders. She had glasses, and was the bookworm of the school. However, her friends knew her for being quite extroverted. "We were waiting long."

Mei, a girl with bluish hair, punched Yukiko slightly on the arm. "Yeah right, Kiko-chan, we were only waiting ten minutes!"

"Ten minutes is long; that's the time it could take us to walk over to the movie place from here and buy tickets." Yukiko retorted, and Tenten laughed.

"Gomen, gomen. Let's go now, anyway."

"Yeah!" Ami started dragging Mei and Tenten away, Yukiko following just behind.

After a long time of bickering, they decided not to watch a movie at all, annoying the person behind the ticket sales. Ami instead decided they should all go for kareoke, so that they could discuss not just songs and movies but also about the training schedules.

"So," Tenten said as they all went into a room, "I have a roughly drawn schedule here of what we should be training the team for throughout the tennis season."

"Ten-chan? Are you mad?" Ami looked up from the piece of paper with a look of pure confusion on her face. "I mean, it's good that you're aiming for the nationals, but making us go through that?"

"What's that?" Mei piped up from behind the catalogue of songs, which she and Tenten had been scanning and entering different numbers to the machine from. She scooted towards Yukiko to peer at the chart.

"Tenko's not mad, it's actually a smart idea to do such a thing." Yukiko was saying, over the noise of the music that came on. "Oh, that's my song!"

For a minute Tenten, Mei and Ami stared at Yukiko, who was currently singing Simple Plan's "I'm Just a Kid" in a perfectly American-English accent. They shook their heads and moved back onto the schedule.

"So why are we going to be practicing with the boys' team again?"

"Because their captain agreed with me, that we should be getting used to playing with not just against each other but with people we've never played against before."

"Ten-chan? You talk to Tezuka?"

The room was for a moment silent, other than the music that played at the end of a song, announcing the singing score.

"Yes! I got a ninety-seven!" Yukiko turned around to face the other three, who were staring at each other. "Guys?"

"Yeah, I talk to Tezuka." Tenten finally responded. "Uh, why would I not?"

"Because he, is the most stoic person we've, ever known." Ami was frowning.

"Eh, so?"

"So how did you even get him to talk to you!" Ami was wide eyed, staring straight at Tenten while shaking her by the shoulders.

"Well, you know... My cousin's on the boys' team, so I asked him to connect me to his captain and coach so that we could plan cooperative practices. I even asked Sato-sensei if we could and she said yes. So I talked to him."

"Maybe you don't know because you've only been here for a year, but Tezuka? Does not talk to anyone. Other than teachers and the tennis team." Ami looked briefly at the incredulous look on Tenten's face and continued. "No really. He's really that aloof."

'Well, sounds definitely like someone I know... knew....' Tenten was brought out of her musings by Mei pushing the mike into her face.

"Your turn, Tenten!"

"Huh? Oh."

Tenten stood up and opened her mouth to sing a recently popular song, and soon her three friends were joining her in the chorus, howling with laughter as they were all trying to sing in the lower tones of a male voice. They were given a seventy-five.

An hour later they stumbled out of the kareoke place in search of a decent restaurant to eat in. As they did not have that much cash on them, they ended up eating, yet again as with their habit, at a Burger King joint. Tenten went to bed that night satisfied, and feeling ready for the first day of school that would be in two days. She had forgotten all about "not missing being in Konoha."

Meanwhile, in said Konoha, an extremely annoyed Hokage got up from her desk to stare outside of the window, her gaze focusing on the building Tenten had lived in before.

"Two more weeks." Tsunade reminded herself. "I'll wait two more weeks before giving into Lee's pleas to send a search party for Tenten." She smiled wryly. "And then that'll stop Neji from coming into my office so many times."

Well, thank you blueyblonde, Azalie-Kauriu, Yorukifon, and Qissa for reviewing! Hope you liked this chapter as well!

Towards my other readers... uh...
I seem to be caught up in a MAJOR writers' block right now... after the cliffhangers I placed at the end of my last chapters.
It would be extremely gratifying if you could maybe send me ideas? Just maybe?
XD Well... I'm still writing... and I'm getting down a lot of ideas although I'm not getting anywhere with them... sad -_-;;

The funny thing this weekend- my cousins came over from canada to visit, and the one that's one year younger than me turns out to be a naruto fan~~~ X3! So he and I and my sis get talking... and got scolded by our moms when we used the computer to read.... At least I hadn't gone on fanfiction or she would have KILLED me... and so it turns out, I'm not the only naruto fanatic in the family!!!
Right... that was really random. XD

Ja Ne!

GDC

P.S.: I can't believe Danzo has the sharingan!!!!