Chapter Two
The first day he saw her he thought she was rather plain and unextroadinary. They were standing single file in a long hallway. They weren't allowed to talk. They were supposed to keep their noses deep in their training book, but he had already read over the material several times.
He was bored. He was curious.
So he watched her in his peripheral vision. The girls around her were sobbing quietly, trying to put on brave faces. Hers was the only one he believed. If not for her hands in tight fists at her sides, he would have never guessed how this affected her.
They were both shuffled into the room at the same time. They were pushed down into chairs, a soft hum and the sound of sheers were the only sounds they could hear. Sasuke wasn't being wathed for the first time in a long while, so he was able to watch her facial expression as it happened.
The woman raised the sheers to her long hair.
Snip, snip.
Brown locks fell the the floor, creating a half circle around the girl in the chair.
Snip, snip.
Her eyes were fixed on a spot on the wall. They didn't waver.
Snip, snip.
Her hair was a short, choppy mess. Her hair had been hacked off without a care. After all, she wasn't a person. She wasn't an individual. She was nothing more than a female. An easily replaced recruit.
As she was shoved out of the room, their eyes met.
Sasuke saw the same hunger in her eyes. He saw the same raw desire to obtain her goal.
He had to stop himself from smirking at the now shaved-head in the mirror.
She wasn't so plain afterall.
In the midst of the battle they were able to escape. They couldn't survive much longer without supplies, though. They would need to find a town to stock up and perhaps stay the night if they deemed it safe.
They looked at each other in their uniforms.
If they wanted to remain under the radar, those would definitely have to go. Tenten hugged the pouch on her pant's pocket, hearing the soft clink of her amo. They would have to get more discreet weapons too.
A comfortable silence fell over them as they entered the town. It was surrounded by woods on three sides so it would be easy to slip away if need be. The first hotel they came across was awful. They weren't the type of people to complain, but Uchiha wouldn't have been surprised if cockroaches scurried across the floor.
The second hotel they found was a bit fancy for their liking, but the pair had been traveling for forty-eight hours without rest and the cost was worth it. They remained completely professional when they ripped of their blouses and boots, even when they undid their belts and removed their pants. They remained professional as they lay in the same bed, wearing nothing but t-shirts and underwear.
They were too tired to think about it.
They woke up at the break of dawn as soon as the sunlight began to shine through their window. Systematically, they put their clothes back on and prepared for the day.
"This will be headquarters for now," Uchiha explained. Tenten nodded.
"It won't take them long to realize you're gone."
"I'm prepared for that."
"You can still go back. Say that you were a hostage."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"I don't want you here." Tenten finally looked at him. She scooted close, so she could invade his personal space and look him squarely in the eyes.
"I'm. Not. Going. Anywhere." The Uchiha huffed and moved off the bed, placing his various weapons back into the pouches on his uniform.
"Hn."
"Besides," she muttered to herself, foldering her arms in front of her. "I know you don't want to do this alone. You're just too macho to say so."
Uchiha didn't give any indication if her heard her or not. She decided that was probably for the better.
"We need to work on disguises. Your hair has to go."
"What?" The girl gaffawed. "But it's finally long again!"
It was his turn to cross his arms out in front of him.
"Fine," she mumbled. "Then you have to grow a beard."
He shot her a piercing glare.
"You're the one they're technically looking for anyways. And you can't keep up that military haircut. It has to go too."
"Very well," he said, pulling the laces of his boot tight and knotting them with ease. "Let's go."
She felt weird looking at the various articles of namebrand clothing on the rack. She looked at the blond barbie beside her.
"What?" She nearly spat. The girl turned away to look at another rack. Tenten blamed her attitude on the lack of proper sleep and current circumstances, refusing to believe it was because the girl made the female population look bad in her skimpy clothing and high heels.
In the end, Tenten couldn't make herself buy anything "normal" and uncomfortable. She was used to wearing unisex clothing. Her new outfit was plenty girly. She waited in line patiently and had to force herself to relax her posture, to blend in. She looked across the store to see Uchiha maintaining a perfectly neutral face as he selected his clothes. She imagined he had a scarily good poker face.
"Have a nice day, ma'am!" The cashier sing-songed. Tenten opened her mouth to say, "I am not a ma'am! I work for a living!" But grit her teeth together just in time, so that all that came out was a grunt similiar to the one Uchiha tended to give when he had nothing to say.
She waited patiently by the door for him to finish his purchase. He looked down at the bags in her hands, then back up to her. "Ready?"
"Just need to pick up a pair of sheers," she sighed. She sighed when she soon realized "sheers" to Uchiha meant "everyday scissors." She felt like she was in bootcamp all over again. At least she could try to make the hairstyle work for her. She'd done it before, she supposed.
They made it back to the hotel at a pace much too fast for the regular civillian. It didn't help that they walked in step as they did so. They really needed to work on their blending skills.
Tenten followed Uchiha into the room. He was immediately changing into his new clothes. She'd seen many naked men in her profession. She'd seen a lot of things she wished she could unsee...like STD's and their effects. But she couldn't help but look at him a second or two longer than necessary. He was turned around so she could only see his back. His shoulders immediately caught her attention. She was a shoulders girl, and man, did he have shoulders!
She blinked a few times and made herself turn away. Professionalism is key.
She grabbed her own bag and looked down into it, still unhappy with her choice.
She stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, scissors in her hand. She let her hair down from its perfectly made sock bun.
"It's taken me years to grow you back out," she told it sadly. "I'll miss you."
"Stop being so dramatic," Uchiha sighed in the doorway.
"You don't understand how hard I've worked for this hair!"
"It grows back. Stop being such a girl."
"I am a girl! At least I don't wine about growing a beard!" Uchiha's hand went up to rub his face, sharp hairs prickling his skin.
"It's weird. I don't like the feel."
Tenten took a deep breath.
Snip, snip.
She bolted her eyes shut. Uchiha sighed.
"I don't want to see it," she told him as he took the scissors from her hand.
Snip, snip.
She was being such a girl. She was stronger than this.
Snip, snip.
Uchiha wouldn't really judge her for it. It was one part of herself she wanted to keep. He blamed himself for making her give it up. They had already given so much of themselves up. What would happen when they had nothing left to give?
Snip, snip.
She knew her answer. She would give up everything, her very life to protect her country, to protect her family. She finally opened her eyes. Her eyes roamed the mirror before meeting his. He was standing behind her, scissors still in his hands.
"It's not bad," she told him, her hand exploring her missing locks.
"It's cute," he told her, letting his mask drop enough to show her a crooked smile. She didn't know whether it was a real smile or a fake one, but she knew she didn't mind her haircut as much anymore.
