Tenten was a bit concerned when she didn't hear any word from her supposed partner for the next week. Her long nights at the bar dragged on forever, and eventually she was sent with her team to go home, not knowing at all what had happened to Shino.
Safely back in Konoha, she waited for him to return, but now her team was being sent out again, another two week mission, and she wasn't sure at all what to do about what happened that night.
Too much time had passed, and perhaps she had too much time to analyze and think about what had really happened.
She decided before she left, she would leave a note for the Aburame heir, just so he didn't think that she hadn't forgotten their little encounter.
It simply read:
Dear Shino,
My team is being deployed on another mission lasting the duration of the next fortnight. As you have yet to return, I would greatly appreciate going over the details regarding our previous mission together at your earliest convenience. I believe that meeting in person would be most beneficial for exchanging our information. Feel free to contact me when I am in town upon your arrival so that we can agree on a time and place.
Please send my deepest and warmest regards to your father for selecting me for this particular mission. I am most appreciative for the opportunity to work with you.
Tenten
Perhaps it might have been a little to formal, but she was certain that her point was made all too clear. She wanted to meet him, and if he wasn't so interested in her then she could pull it off on just being curious if her role was beneficial to his wellbeing and the mission.
When she came back from her two week journey, tired and covered in mud from being in Rain country, she nearly stomped on the letter waiting for her that was slipped through the mail slot. She wiped the edge of the letter of the mud she had accidently smudged on the corner and with an eagerness she had never anticipated before, she unfolded the thick paper and read the following:
Dear Tenten,
It seems that our missions are being staggered which prevents us from being in town at the same time. As inconvenient as this remains, my teammates and I will be out in Grass country until the end of the month. It is my hope that we might meet as soon as possible upon my return, if you are not deployed out on another mission, to go over some of the finer details of our last mission together. It is with much impatience on my part to remove the ambiguity revolving around my departure and I intend to resolve the matter firmly upon my arrival to town. It would be of utmost importance to schedule a large block of time to re-familiarize ourselves with the nature of the mission and the specific roles we were each assigned so that any obnubilation on our parts might be clarified. As such, bringing along any and all paraphernalia in reference to the mission might be of great benefit, so please do not hesitate to come overly prepared with all of the resources you were assigned.
Shino
She thumbed it over in her hands, taking note of his small, but neat handwriting and how he used an official seal to stamp the outside of the parchment.
She couldn't help the smile that formed on her face. Did he want her to wear that dress? Is that what Mr. Stoic Aburame was hinting at?
She threw her backpack on the ground and hurried over to her calendar. According to his letter, he would be out for another week. If she was very lucky, she might be able to see him before another mission stole away more time between them. She unpacked her things and took a long shower and thought about her next encounter with a half-naked Shino.
As luck would have it, she was forced to take a mission solo out in Snow, and she had to leave the day before he was to return.
Defeated, she penned another letter.
Dear Shino,
The delay upon our aforementioned meeting has me despondent as to if such meeting will ever get to take place. My wish is that it our overlapping schedules would finally coincide and provide a period of time for us to catch up from our long absence away from each other. I am being deployed again in the northern province of Snow currently. My return date is scheduled for ten days following the correspondence of this letter.
PS
Don't forget the katana.
Tenten
Satisfied with the brevity of the note, she was surprised when she was invited in by Shikuro instead of just dropping off the letter.
The elder man smiled at her, and what should have been an awkward encounter turned into an informal and comfortable tea on the barstools in the main kitchen as they conversed politely. She let Shikuro reminisce about Torune and engaged him affably about his current work and favorite pastimes. At some point he brought up how Shibi consulted him about the decision to employ her for her last mission with the Aburame heir. It shouldn't have been as alarming as it was, but somehow a bunch of older gentlemen conspiring as to whom would be a better person suited to fill that kind of role unnerved her. She thanked him warmly for the recommendation and asked him before leaving if he wouldn't mind giving the small letter for Shino.
He pointed with a smile, stating that his room was the third door down the hall to her left if she would like to leave it herself.
With a small bow of gratitude, she headed off to find his room, curiosity and apprehension brewing inside of her.
She pushed the door open without so much as a creak and peered inside. The hallway light offered nothing so far as the contents of the room, other than there was a neatly made bed and the edge of a desk. Finding the light switch, she flipped it on and soft orange light glowed about the room. She fingered a team photograph on his bookshelf and noted his bedroom was probably just as clean as she kept her apartment. Thick curtains obscured a full view of the inner garden and courtyard, and she noted the large ledge on the windowsill. Upon further investigation, she realized that the ledge was a favorite place of his to reside. A small table lay within reach of the ledge, perfect to set a book or drink upon. There was a faded worn pattern on the wood, and she let a finger brush against its softened areas, confirming her theory about the Aburame's pastime.
She left the note on his pillow, certain that anyone else would leave the note on his desk. She wanted to leave the message that she had been in his room, and left quickly before Shikuro thought her lingering suspicious.
She returned home from Snow, sopping wet with melted snowflakes from head to toe.
Her heart nearly plummeted upon the absence of a note on her welcome mat, and she shrugged off her heavy coat with a disappointed sigh.
Then the glint of a chain from a katana caught her eye, and she nearly tore her shirt trying to get the wet contraption off of her arm. She rushed over to the ferrite blade, sitting innocuously in its sheath on her kitchen table.
It was the same katana that Shino had the night of their mission together.
The letter underneath the katana read:
Dear Tenten,
I was particularly pleased that you would personally see to delivering your last note. I thought I would return the favor and drop this letter off inside your apartment with a little souvenir from the last time we had the pleasure of each others company. I must confess curiosity overtook me, and I could not prevent myself from touring your lovely home. To ensure in good faith that you are looking forward to our encounter, I have taken the liberty of taking a souvenir of my own. I hope that you do not mind. I doubt the item will be missed and it gives me great comfort to hold a small token around with me to reminisce over.
PS
I look forward to seeing them on you in person.
Shino
Whoa, wait a second. What exactly did that man take? Did he just take a pair of her panties? On a mission?
Hot damn.
She quickly entered her bedroom and dumped the contents of her underwear drawer on her bed.
All of her panties and bras matched, so it was simply finding the missing pair and as the realization hit her as to which panties he purloined, she had to admit he had decent taste.
It was her black lacey panties that had little ties on the hips. She always thought the little tied bows were particularly adorable whenever she put them on.
And now they were with Shino on a mission. How bizarre was that? Or perhaps she had lost that pair and he took something else. The possibility of that seemed slim, but something told her to keep her next note to him clean as she wasn't completely certain that no one else was reading them. He could have just as easily taken a pair of hair ribbons, and the note would read something way more innocent than what her gutter brain was telling her.
The next week she had missed him by quite literally, she found out later, a few hours. The whole scenario was completely frustrating, but her letter in response read:
Dear Shino,
I must first state how very pleased I was that you would let me borrow such a well-crafted weapon. As delightful as your correspondence has been these past few months, I am still rather looking forward to seeing you face to face. The finer aspects of our last encounter are becoming slightly harder to recall, and I am confident that you can refresh my memory as to nature of it in its entirety. I am leaving with my team for a three day mission on escort duty. I hope to visit you upon my return, as you are scheduled to be in town that day.
I sincerely hope that your token has kept you great company these last few weeks and will be displayed well upon its intended as soon as it is possible.
PS
I hope you don't mind if I take one of my own.
Tenten
She was allowed to leave it in his room again, and she fought the urge to loudly ransack his drawers looking for his underwear. She finally settled for taking one of his undershirts after fingering the soft material and smelling the fabric. It smelled exactly like him, a heady masculine scent that nearly overloaded her senses with euphoria. She fought the urge to bury her face in it as soon as she left the complex, and left it tucked away until she got to her apartment before indulging herself again.
It was going to be a long three days.
