A/N;; I just wanted to say how appreciative I am of the support. I also find it ultra interesting to explore the characters who never found their happy ending after the war. These two deserve more backstory.

He picks this certain spot for a reason. The lake is a large enough body of water for him to rehydrate with if needed. Not that he's worried. He hopes that she's a ninja good enough to hold her own at least a little when it came to combat. Besides, if he were taking this fight seriously and was able to lure her into his natural element so soon, it would be over in seconds.

But Suigetsu doesn't want that. No, he wanted to drag it out as long as possible, to quench his thirst for battle.. to start off slow, and then progress into a different kill maybe later in the week.

Sparring is a big step backward, but it's a compromise. He's not going to hurt a girl.

Specific instruction to stay out of trouble lingered somewhere in the back of his mind. It didn't mean he had to follow them without his usual carelessness.

Anyway, Konoha wouldn't be much of a refuge if they came across him going toe to toe with a fellow war veteran, so.. he'll definitely play easy.

And from the looks of it, Tenten was a plain old weapons user. She liked to talk herself up, but that was probably it. He couldn't see much to stress over. Nothing special, unless he got to see one of those treasured tools in action.. and besides, he's positive she won't be able to hit him even if he doesn't use his clan's technique.

Women were weaker. In spirit and mind and of course, physicality.

No one would live to see the day when a chick could show him up.

But the game would be fun.

He's been waiting for a chance to show off Kubikiribōchō during battle. The fact she agrees to fight somebody of obvious swordsman skill is stupid on her part, but he can't say he isn't gleeful.

Tenten takes him up on the offer in a hurry, and he doesn't know why until he catches her staring at the sword in wonderment again.

He's touched by her interest, however..

Unless it was somehow pried from his cold, dead fingers.. he would never part with it. He values it more than himself nearly. But still, her acceptance to his invitation is enthralling. He hasn't trained since..

"You're early," She's dressed in clean attire, complete with the signature Leaf Village headband that he noticed was missing yesterday. Rays blind him from its shiny reflection. Still upset by his distasteful remarks, she was ready to make him sorry. She's been ready. To prove something to the both of them. "I trust you're not here setting traps."

As if he needed traps. The giant green scroll on her back is a dead giveaway if he hadn't been told already.

"C'mon, I don't fight that dirty."

"Just remember," Tenten steps onto the water, "don't go easy."

He can see that Kubikiribōchō is still in her sights, and he can't blame her. What an honor, right? She wants to see the damage it can do. Was she downright crazy? Was she contemplating suicide? All possibilities..

I highly doubt you want this thing used against you, babe, but whatever.

"So let me guess what's in that scroll of yours," Suigetsu followed onto the lake, propping his foot on a boulder.

"You'll never guess."

Do your worst, he thinks evilly; you won't go too far.

She naively strays from bay, keeping a distance. He seemed like the kind to dive right in. If her gatherings meant anything..

Suigetsu wanted to make an impressive opening move, slamming his sword into the water. The waves crashed over a large part of their improvised battlefield.

She was right.

The force of the water sends her reeling backward, feet skidding to a hasty stop. So he was strong. Stronger than he looked. Well, he would have to be to handle that enormous metal...

"Not bad," Tenten whispered, unraveling a medium-sized scroll with a variety of kunai and shuriken. She waited for the waves to settle before releasing them, following it up with a barrage of senbon. Just how skilled was he at wielding that thing?

He easily blocks everything with Kubikiribōchō, and the failed effort makes him laugh. How bold, for a woman. All those sharp objects and not one managed to graze him. Even pretended to examine the sword for scratches.

"Boring."

She lunges with two tantōs, unable to get to him before he slashes through the air. They become sliced in half, preventing her from excelling on the offensive.

This sword was something else. She tries to remember what she's read about it in the past. An original of the Seven Swords... it's a bigger problem than she realized.

I need a better strategy, The kunoichi flung broken parts at him in a rage, not expecting a result. She needed to separate him from that stupid blade by all means. How good could be at ninjutsu?

Suigetsu dodged her attacks, adrenaline building with each deafening clash against metal. He deflects everything she throws at him, but she doesn't give up. She's dead set on her technique. Was that really all she did.. Throw weapons? He's tempted to let the pointed needles go right through him, but he's having too much fun. It's a rush.

Though if there was a problem, it was how fast she was.

And he's not slow, she's just fast.

Tenten kept unleashing scrolls filled with weapons, circling him to create the illusion of a hunt. It's as if she's been training with the quickest shinobi alive, and it's clear to him then how out of practice he must be. He must have skipped training one too many times. How could she be so fast?

He only swings twice, and obviously, she's wise enough to keep a range. As much as he loves it, the weight of the sword pulls him down. Her maneuvers are exhaustively repetitive and dizzying.

So that's what she avoided. Too close for comfort combat. He doesn't blame her.

The back and forth is enough for him until it becomes impossible to avoid every blow she pressures him with.

Suigetsu's arm bursts into water as one of her shuriken come back around, and she continues trying to land a fair hit.

She limits space between them.

One of Tenten's swords is a poor match for Kubikiribōchō, snapping almost as soon as they make contact. Water gathers around them from all the motion, and she doesn't notice until he finally stops resisting her hits. He schemed her into thinking she had an opening.

She watched in awe as her spears struck his gel-like form, only to pass through and fall. What? Was she seeing things? She tries again with kunai, explosives, senbon.. absolutely everything before coming to a conclusion that nothing will change. She froze and tried to recollect her panicked thoughts.

The fuck? It had to be a genjutsu, but seriously? Was he made out of water? What was this? What was he? She had never seen anything like it.

If he had been serious, it would have been the perfect opportunity to catch her by surprise. Just one strike..

The look on their faces' never gets old.

"'Ya done yet?" The Hōzuki asked triumphantly, crossing his arms after adjusting Kubikiribōchō back in place.

"How?!" Tenten angrily threw a flock of knives, cold water simply leaking off his body. He didn't bother to avoid. It was like a shield, but more effective.

So he was just messing with her all this time.. the nerve of this guy. First he insults her passion and then plays her to this degree?

"Nice try," Suigetsu complimented sarcastically, looking at the quantity of explosive tags and weightless weapons floating around them. "sorry, but your attacks are pointless against me. Frustrating, right?"

This was all a game to him.

She's speechless, still in shock as she becomes drenched by his controlled wave. "What the hell?"

A blob of water taking on the shape of a human lashes out at her, and they rapidly multiply using each other. All the while, he stands there smirking with his stupid sword.

Tenten goes at every clone, using wire strings to guide her weapons more precisely. They still have difficulty slicing through the density of each, and it begins to wear her out.

"Looks like you're gonna lose this one," He laughs at her futile attempts to wound him physically, sinking underwater when she nears. He pops up a few feet away. "I always knew girls weren't suited for battle."

She barely escapes from being grabbed at the ankle by a clone, retreating to half-dry land. She would be at more of a disadvantage if she stayed out on the lake. So he could fuse himself with water and manipulate it as well.. what was his weakness? There had to be some alternative.

Tenten slings another batch of weapons into the rippling surface, waiting for him to reappear.

"You're persistent, I'll give you that."

A bit of a one-trick pony, however.

"I'll teach you!" She shouted from the edge, not knowing how her idea would play out. Her breathing and energy levels were increasing simultaneously. "you little sea monkey."

The next one she unwraps doesn't worry him until he sees her intention. Shit.

He's forced to stumble back onto land like a fish out of water, glaring as the lightning barrel lit up the lake dangerously.

"What's wrong? You don't want to get fried?"

So she wasn't dumb, at least.

"Trying to shock me!" He exclaimed, keeling over as he regained form. "I see how it is."

Suigetsu would have to think twice about not using Kubikiribōchō to his best ability next time.

'So if he only uses water-based techniques, then he is vulnerable to lightning-based attacks—' Tenten thought to herself, still dripping wet, thankful for finally figuring him out somewhat. With her baiting successful, she arms herself once more. "oh, don't be so dramatic. I just wanted you out of that water."

He rose from his knees, feeling considerably more weary. "You'll lose either way. Why don't you give up and save yourself the trouble?"

"I think you're afraid of a little one on one," Tenten swung her wind staff at him, waiting for his body to melt into liquid.

"Please," Instead, he instinctively blocked with Kubikiribōchō. She's swift, but nowhere near as strong as him. "With a girl? Get real."

"I told you to stop saying stuff like that!"

He laughs at this, impatiently anticipating her next move. Too predictable.

Suigetsu uses his blade to shred the chain, seeing the opening he had been waiting for when she collapsed at the sudden loss of grip.

Not a good choice.

He towered over her, smirking conceitedly. Well, it lasted longer than he expected. So you lose, but at least you put up a decent fight..

It's over.

Too bad, Tenten. You were the first girl I fought with promise. I'm disappointed.

And for a moment, he feels remorseful. Mahogany eyes glare up at him with lost intent. The passion in them has died down, but still.. they are too filled with a niceness, a life that is full.. discouraged but still determined. The irises shake but stay forever locked on every move. They bore holes through someone like him and force a hesitation. Dammit. Maybe he shouldn't have been so rough on a girl. But she asked for it. He really had no excuse for feeling bad.

Nevertheless, Suigetsu finds himself sympathizing, lodging his sword into the ground and reaching for the water bottle on his belt. He offers her his free left hand. Curse his chivalry.

"Alright, no hard feelings."

He became immediately confused at the puff of smoke, letting out a grunt before being tackled into dirt ruthlessly. His side goes numb and he isn't sure how he still has air left to speak.

"Got you!"

"What!?" Suigetsu is trapped under her foot, still taken aback. All because he let his fucking guard down. What was he doing? Feeling bad for himself for feeling bad.. that would teach him to have a conscience.

Tenten shrugged, "Guess you're not the only one who can use clones, huh?"

He doesn't want to know why, when, or even how. "—Get off me!"

"Not until you apologize for saying I don't know anything about weapons!" She stands directly on his lung, "and that girls are just as strong as guys!"

"Forget it-" He grimaced when he saw Kubikiribōchō way out of grasp, along with his necessary refreshment.

"Say it, Suigetsu!"

He squirmed, wincing as she pressed down harder. "No!"

"Say it!"

"Fine! Girls and guys can be evenly matched! You know a lot about weapons, okay?! Oww! I can't breathe here!"

"Better," Tenten relented, extending her partially gloved hand to him, "hope I didn't hurt you too bad."

He breathed a sigh of relief after he finally got to replenish fluids, leaning against Kubikiribōchō for support. He didn't know whether to take her help or crawl away and await death for letting some broad get the best of him. And not just get the best of him, but trick him into thinking otherwise.

Next time he knew not to take it so easy on a damn chick.

The Leaf kunoichi wrings out her damp clothing the best she can, breathing rather heavily. He really took it out of her, but she wouldn't admit it. "That's a.. pretty nifty style of fighting you got there."

"Thanks," He's in between sips. "I hope you know you just got lucky."

"Whatever," She wiped sweat off the back of her neck, "I take it.. you're from—the Land of Water?"

"Hidden Mist," Suigetsu specified, "I'm visiting."

"Really? Who are you visiting?"

"Nobody in particular," He changes subjects, "so you fought in the war, too, huh. Do you know Sasuke personally?"

Tenten slid down to the ground, still trying to catch her breath. He appeared to recover much sooner than her. "Well, I wouldn't say personally. Last I heard of him was his defection to Orochimaru."

"I know him personally, and let me just say.. you aren't missing much," The Mist ninja continued to be baffled by everyone's liking to the Uchiha. "He's popular around here, I guess."

"A lot of girls," She pants, "seem to think so."

"But you don't?"

"I mean, sure he's dreamy," She brushed off the childish memories. "but he's kind of.. not my type. Too controversial, too rogue, you know."

"You aren't like other girls, are you?" He sounded skeptical on purpose, just to see if he could piss her off.

Tenten smiled innocently, "I'm so much not like other girls it amazes me sometimes."

"You mean the weapons thing, right?" Suigetsu returned her smile as a toothy grin, "it is kinda strange."

"Yeah, some of it," She hated to take inventory of all the tools she wasted during their fight. "but I've never been ashamed of that."

"I guess it's pretty cool, though."

"You set me up."

"I sure did."

He isn't ashamed, either. It was worth it.

And what did she mean anyway? She set him the fuck up in the end, so now they were even.

His features engage her, from the amethyst eyes to the blindingly white hair and back around to the fang-like teeth.. Which, she can't help but note, are somewhat frightening when he chooses to bare them.

But he still does, and that's enough to stall her. Kubikiribōchō is quite the eye-catcher, but he was too—the sword was just the spotlight between them.

Suigetsu poured water over the scrape he got from his unwanted contact with dirt, hand still throbbing. "Can't you heal?"

Tenten seemed unsure of how to answer, unfolding her green scroll in front of them. "I'm not a medic in the slightest, if that's what you're asking."

"Aren't girls supposed to.."

Her expression is enough to shut him up, because he's in no mood to hear another speech about sexism.

"I was never good at that sort of stuff."

"Yeah?"

She shrugged again, voice tinted with a sense of longing. "I tried my hand at it, but.. I'd much rather be in battle."

"I know what you mean," Suigetsu watched her methodically rearrange scrolls back into order. Like many, he had the notion that female shinobi were crafted around natural nurturing instinct and utilizing their medical knowledge. It was uncharacteristic to find one who played with weapons. "smooth control is overrated."

"I guess I was just always more suited for handling weapons. I prefer the fighting, anyway."

"Hey, same here," He has never agreed more with anything. "I'm more of a destroyer than a fixer, you know."

Tenten paused, finally able to control her breathing. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Don't you ever get that feeling where you..." He had a way of explaining himself. "you're tearing something up, whether it's living or not.. and you feel so alive, like just in that second. You're empowered and it's like nobody can stop you. Ripping things apart, slicing things in half, broken bones, dismemberment, bloodstained metal, it's all the same kind of sweet. Knowing that nothing will ever go back to how it was before. And you always want to get that feeling back? No matter what that means.. and sometimes, you don't even know what it means. But it doesn't matter and you.. you always want the feeling back. It's the best."

She waited for him to elaborate further, not sure if she should ask questions.

"I mean, with all those weapons, you gotta know what I'm talking about."

"No, I can't say I do."

Suigetsu felt like she was lying, wanting someone to deem his opinion right for once. Well, maybe girls just needed everything put into a simpler context. "Come on, be honest.. Isn't it easier to mess something up instead of fixing it?"

Tenten seemed to take his philosophy into consideration. She didn't know whether to cry out her disbelief or break down and express her appreciation for finding someone who understood. For feeling like she was the only one. Minus the sadistic descriptions. An outsider in a world of femininity that catered to medical specialists and the manicured kunoichi. Ones with sweet control and gentle fists. The type she would never be. The ones she wanted to be in the years prior. Judgmental attitudes toward someone with obsessions concerning weapons of mass destruction. She had always wanted to see how one thing reacted with another, what each odd implement would cause a battered flesh to look like.. why she had always been fine with piercing an enemy with hundreds of kunai, but unskilled when it came to a basic healing technique.

Why she hated that along with the fact nobody seemed to accept it. Besides her team and close friends. And even they gave her weird looks, sometimes.

Why so many had ridiculed this lifestyle she absolutely adored.

Nobody cared, but..

She was always her own worst critic.

"I think," Tenten pulled the scroll shut, "I know what you mean now."

"You do?" Suigetsu is a little too excited, nearly spilling his drink. His usual method of convincing was through fear tactics, but that seemed unnecessary. "—so, you've always liked to cut shit up?"

"Not exactly."

"Well, that's no fun."

"When other girls were getting into sensory and healing, I was getting into the art of weaponry. Before that, even."

"All kinds of weaponry?"

"Every single one."

"Why?"

"Because not only can you use them to protect yourself, but for defending your most precious comrades. I wanted to make myself a reliable kunoichi on the battlefield. One that didn't need to be saved. I always wanted to be as strong as the shinobi who protected the village. Like we were taught in the Academy."

She loses him slightly, but she doesn't realize.

"Yeah, you could say I'm not like other girls."

Suigetsu is blinded by her headband again, squinting curiously at the symbol.

"So from what I hear, Konoha Eleven is dripping with raw talent."

"We are," There was that no modesty again, a suffocating confidence. "—you wanna see my team?"

"Not really."

"Great," Tenten whips out two smaller pieces of parchment hidden somewhere in her uniform. "here, look."

She isn't selfish with the photographs, handing them over for him to examine.

"What's up with the dorky twinning outfits on the big one and the little one?"

"This is Lee," She pointed to them, "and that's Guy. He's our teacher."

"That hair?" Suigetsu has to laugh, "seriously? What's wrong with him?"

Tenten gestured to the transformation photo, the one that was taken after their promotion to Chūnin. Obviously taken years apart, her current appearance much closer to the second. "Don't laugh. Lee's the best taijutsu user in the whole village."

"He can't be that good."

"He is," Her tone is less convincing because she knows she's telling the truth. "he'd give you a run for your money."

Suigetsu is more interested in the guy pictured on the bottom left hand corner, the one with no smile and haunting eyes to match. Now he could see him being a challenge.

The ones with the eyes were always the best fighters, so he had learned.

"What about him? Dark-haired tall boy? Ol' creepy eyes? When can I get the chance to fight him?"

"Oh, Neji," Tenten voice loses its liveliness for a moment, "I don't think you will."

He doesn't catch on. "Why not?"

"He.. he died during the war."

"Damn."

Yeah, that could stop him alright. Bummer. The swordsman doesn't do sympathy very well. This was just her teammate, right? He didn't know what it was like to have a bond with a teammate.

"My bad."

"Don't worry," Tenten's smile is stilted, "it's been a while now. Our team is just one man short. We're still going strong."

She feels bad for putting him in the way of her mourning. How could he have known?

Suigetsu let their conversation die off, and she doesn't work to save it.

How awkward. Anyway—he still needed to get rest and wait for his body to recuperate. He has a feeling he will be sore tomorrow.

Kubikiribōchō needed polished.

No blood had left it looking quite scratched. Couldn't have that.

Freedom calling his name.

And he wasn't done talking to a certain somebody. His business is far from finished.

"Will you.." She didn't move from her place on the ground, "... be in the village for a few more days?"

"Yeah, I'll be around," Suigetsu threw Kubikiribōchō over his shoulder with some unnoticeable strain. He hardly knew what own business he had there, but he was sure he'd still have it in a few days. "why? You wanna go for round two?"

She was hesitant about a potential friendship connection slipping away. Even if he was from the Hidden Mist. He's different from the usual passerby.

And that sword was.. well, nothing short of amazing.

"Sure," Tenten repeated his line, adding more sass than the original, "what's a good laugh every once in a while?"

"Oh, shut up," He spun around to glare at the suddenly prideful kunoichi. "I let you win!"

So that's what he would tell his friends, she muses. Maybe they could just hang out instead.

"Then I hope you learned not to take it so easy on girls, Suigetsu."

Should have listened to her and saved himself the humiliation.

"I don't go easy on girls," He looked back, "get it right. Well, maybe just the cute ones."