Revised: 5/21/2012

Thank you again to my awesome reviewers: Tenten's1, DarkAnonymous324, I can Hear the Sea, Just Lovely and anniewanny2.

"Dreams have only one owner at a time. That's why dreamers are lonely."

~Erma Bombeck~

"Melted Steel"

By: FenixPhoenix (Giselle González)

Chapter 6: "Steely Resolution"

Mission type: S-Rank, Specialist: ANBU operative—chameleon type, Codename: Black Widow, Team: Solo, Objective: Infiltration, Mission ID: 02103828.

I wrap my cloak tighter around my body and shuffle quietly inside the shady-looking tavern. It also happens, to my great relief, to be an inn. I wearily approach the front desk and ask for a room. The old, grizzly man behinds the counter tries to peer at my face, but I lower my head so that he is only able to see my mouth from underneath my dark hood. He shrugs unconcerned, takes my money –I paid more for a room all to myself- and then, with a toothless grin, he gives me a key and points me in the right direction.

With a shallow but polite bow I leave for my room and once inside I close and lock the door and unhook my cold, wet cloak from around my neck. I drape it across the back of a wooden chair and move the piece of creaking wood near the chimney. I start the fire and hope that my cloak would dry for when I need it on the morrow, for Kami knows I cannot afford to catch a cold.

When my body warms up, I move back towards a vanity. The mirror there is old and chipped on the edges, but it's clear enough for me to regard my reflection. I flinch when I noticed my ragged appearance. My black hair is frizzled and, therefore, all over the place. The plain, civilian clothes I'm wearing are by now caked with dirt and ripped in more than one place, but at least they have survived in relatively good state half my trip.

On a whim, I bring my shirt up and over my head, slipping it off without a trace of mortification. I throw it down at my feet unceremoniously and gaze at my half-naked, pale body. My hands shake slightly as I bring them up to my stomach. My fingers caress softly the swollen bump that is finally starting to show.

Kami, no matter how much I see it, it still takes my breath away!

I twist sideways so that my profile is reflected and I am able to better admire what moments of fierce passion –and I would like to think also love—have created. Despite how tired I am, I smile with unanticipated happiness. Kami! There is life inside me! Inside ME! I…I am harboring it and it feels so… so strange and magical. I have been dead for so long that never in a thousand years would I have believed that I was capable of giving life, of bringing something into this world that was not destruction and death!

A small pang of pain tugs at my heart and I close my eyes, trying to shield against the wave of disillusion that I wish I could keep at bay, but which I know has an inevitable arrival. I wonder, for the fifteenth time, if I should have told Ryuu before I left, but I dismiss the thought just as quickly as it forms.

He is a leader of a rather stern and close-minded Clan, I fear. And though I would like to think they are different, experience hastens my prudence. Granted, I have no clan –and perhaps never will- to call my own. But that doesn't mean I am ignorant of how they work. Kami knows I've been around enough of these types of clans to know that a child born out of marriage would be shunned at best and hunted down and even killed at worst. And I would first die rather than see someone touching this… this life… this small spark that will give testament to the fact that, once upon a time, there was an 'us' in my miserable life.

No. The stakes are too high. I cannot afford to risk something that's… that's so precious to me, even when the life inside my womb is flimsy and only half-made.

"Saori," his voice coming out of nowhere snaps me off my trance and I spin around to face him, my face probably betraying my surprise. How has he found me! Better yet, how did he manage to slip inside my room without me even knowing it! Was I really that distracted?

On instinct, my hands immediately move, not to hide my perky breasts, but to my womb, to hide and protect what lays beneath my skin and within my bigger body. Ryuu is just standing there, near the closed door, glued to his place by the sight of me –or rather, by the alteration within me, it would seem. For his honey eyes keep moving from me to the unborn child that is still in the stage of forming.

Fear rushes in, pushing back my surprise and longing. Then the fear turns to biting anger that could probably light a fire even in a torrential rain like the one that has been assailing the Earth Country for these past few days. Still, I know I am at a disadvantage. My weapons I left in my pack which is near the door, and I have nothing to protect myself but my own body which, unfortunately, has been weakened by lack of proper rest. So, I give a step back and pour all my defiance into my eyes, letting him know that I don't care. If he tries something to harm the child I will—

"Is… is it… is it mine?" he asks and there is, to my confusion, not doubt in his voice but hope. Pure and raw and unhidden hope.

I don't know what to say. In fact, I don't know what to think. I hadn't prepared myself for something like this. All the scenarios I had foreseen had been on the pessimistic side, after all. With a life like the one I have been living, with the secrets I have been hiding, it was only natural that I would think the worst first.

At a complete loss, I force my body –it takes a lot but I pull it off- to relax. Bearing my stomach to his further scrutiny, I nod. Ryuu's eyes widen and so many things flash through his eyes that I feel disoriented and lost and quite uncertain. But I don't feel any hostility from him. So, I do not move when his long legs swallow the distance separating us with four wide strides.

"Kami, Saori!" he gasps and, before I know it, one of his callous hands is atop my stomach and… he feels so warm and known and right! I've missed this! I realize it now how much I've missed his hands on my body, his warmth wrapping around me, filling me with a sense of comfort I have never known before. "A child," he whispers and I detect excitement and awe lacing his voice. The sheer intensity of his unblinking gaze makes me shudder.

"Yes," I say unhelpfully and the words are a dry whisper being pushed out of my patchy throat. I realize I am thirsty but make no move to retrieve my canteen from where I've left it near the door. Truthfully, I'm afraid. Afraid to break this moment of… of truce. I'm afraid to move and realize that he is not truly there, but that he is merely a product of my imagination learning to take flight.

But then he talks again and the reality of this is reinforced in my head. "When did you know this? Why didn't you tell me? Is this why you left, Saori?" he asks one question after the other, allowing me no time to answer. There is also pain laced in his words when he asks the last one, as if he could not believe I would be keep this from him.

I can't stand to look into his eyes anymore because I see the reproach there. Perhaps I should have told him, but how was I to know how he would take it? As much as I love him, this child… I cannot explain what he means to me. I… I cannot afford to lose him! He is irrevocable proof of how something good can come out from something as broken and spoiled as me. The opportunity to bring some good to the word is too much to risk! Can you not understand that Ryuu!

This child proves that I am human!

Still, Ryuu waits for his answers and I hear myself speak the honest truth and nothing else, "I found out two weeks ago. I… I am three months pregnant." I pause, trying to keep my thoughts in order, "I-I did not tell you because I was… I am scared, Ryuu!" My hands move towards my stomach and, without really thinking about it, I end up placing them on top of his. I squeeze, begging him to understand my actions, "I do not wish to cause problems with your Clan, nor do I wish to put this child in harm's way. I had to leave, I had to! You understand?"

"No," he says and then he does something that makes me gasp. He pulls me into his strong arms gently but fiercely. I feel his strength increase as mine decreases so that I end up clinging to him, my arms wrapping around his strong torso, my hands fisting on his shirt. I had been traveling non-stop and it has taken a toll on me! Kami, I am tired! I am scared! And right now I am… safe?

I closed my eyes and feel tears –not mine, but his!—falling into my naked shoulder. I cannot believe this and I push him a bit away, feeling the need to confirm what I already know. Ryuu shifts his hold so that I am able to see his tear streaked face. There is happiness in his orbs and relief which causes me to feel the same. I close my eyes when I feel his lips touching my forehead with overwhelming tenderness. It causes me to sway and melt. Yes, I melt in his embrace for a short eternity.

Kami, I've missed this! I've missed him!

"I love you, Saori," he whispers, kissing me. And I dare believe he speaks the truth. "Kami, I love you…"

"As do I," I answer, trembling at finally fully opening my heart to this man; at finally betraying the oath I've always tried to live by but which I cannot fulfill anymore.

I love, and that is the truth.

"Come back with me," he pleads, pressing his forehead against mine. It is only until now that I realize that he is actually soaked from following me through the torrential storm. How queer that I did not notice it before… "Saori… come back with me and be my wife."

I laugh at how easily those words just come out of his lips. I would be lying if I said I hadn't dreamt about this moment, though never quite like this. Yet, I would take reality over fantasy any and every time. And so I kiss him fiercely in answer. When he seems unsatisfied, I try another approach.

"Yes," I say.

That seems to do the trick because he grins boyishly at me. To my bafflement, I realize that that small three-lettered-word had given me love, safety and –for the first time ever—it will give me a family to call my own.

-Extract from the Black Widow's Mission Journal. Mission No. 02103828—

-o0o-

Hyuga Neji had an entire speech prepared. He had gone through thousands of scenarios in his head and had dealt with each and every one of them with upmost composure. He had prepared himself against the worst but had, arguably, hoped for the best. He'd prayed, above all else, that he would be able to keep his emotions under close check, not wishing them to leak and cause a breech with the only person he truly cared about. All of this had been organized, maintained, followed and believed up until the moment he'd seen her tossing and turning on her bed, the blankets scrunched up below her body, imprinting her tormented night into their folds.

Yes. What Neji had failed to take into account was the effect she had on him. Because unknown to her -and until recently to him too- Tenten held the power to turn him into a killing machine or a bloody fool with just one look, one smile, one touch... And granted, though he wasn't crazy about it, he didn't fight it. Why would he? To fight this almost visceral reaction would have been like fighting the rain from falling when the sky was grey and ready. It was absurd to even think of it and amazingly stupid to even try it.

So he didn't.

Needless to say, nothing else had gone as planned. By the end, when he thought all that needed to be said had been said and done, she had stopped him from leaving with a single word. It was a peculiar request that, nonetheless, had made his heart somersault. Tenten had asked him to stay and, like the mindless slave he'd been reduced to, he'd stayed.

Naturally, trying to keep up the pretence that his mind had not been made solely by her, he'd asked for her reasons. Regardless of the answer she gave, the outcome wouldn't have changed. Not that he'd been aiming to determine that. Rather when he'd asked if it was an order, he had truly just wanted to find out who was the one asking for his company. Was it the fake Ai or the genuine Tenten? When she'd finally answered, he'd been relieved to learn that it had been the latter the one who'd spoken.

Thus, here he was, keeping her company, maintaining silent vigilance over her peacefully slumbering and ravishingly beautiful form. Part of him was keenly aware that he might be taking advantage of her tired state. But his other part, which was also the biggest, just didn't care. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was so… absolutely stunning.

He also had enough clearance of mind to reprove himself for being here, in bed with a beautiful woman instead of doing his job, which was nothing short of being out there, helping Kiba and Shikamaru run surveillance around town. But like with all the rest when it came to her lately, he just didn't care. He couldn't move. He wouldn't move from her side until she expressed that it was okay for him to leave.

As he watched her sleep, Neji's mind replayed what had happened. The thing was, the prodigy had expected a confrontation when he'd stolen his way into her room, not a confession. He'd expected her anger and reprisal at his harsh demands, not her tiredness and certainly not her tears!

The prodigy frowned as he went through his memories of her, searching for another time when he would have seen her on the verge of tears. He realized, mildly surprised, that he'd never seen her cry. As a matter of fact, not even during her mother's funeral had the kunoichi shed a tear. He didn't know whether that was commendable or wrong. He hadn't known Tenten much at the time. They had just become teammates a month or so before, and though he'd considered it a bit odd, he'd shrugged it off as non important. Now, however, he wondered at the reasons for it.

Even more, he wondered at what she had been dreaming. What kind of nightmare could have shaken her to the point where she'd almost done what her mother's death hadn't pushed her to do? Above all else, he realized that it had pained him. Truly it had. It had hurt him almost physically to have seen her so heartbreakingly sad. It was this fact what had played a major role in prompting him to lie down with her –a thing he had never done before, not even during those few missions where they had been forced to share a room.

What monsters stalk your subconscious, Tenten? He wondered, reaching out to push one of her bangs aside. The touch, light and brief as it was, caused her to move closer to him, as if subconsciously seeking his warmth. Neji kept very still, not really sure what to do, heedful of the fact that he didn't wish unnecessary distance between them.

Her face, ended up mere inches away from his, so that even with the dim light, he was able to make out a cut on her lower lip which marked how she'd abused them not long ago. He closed his eyes, trying to push away the sudden desire to taste those lips. It hit him right then and there, that it wasn't the fact that Sasuke had outdone him when it came to Tenten what had bothered him. No. It was the fact that he had done what Neji had only dreamt of doing.

Yes. He'd had his fair share of dreams about her, with her, of her. Every time, he'd woken out of breath, tensed and filled with pent-up desire. Then, just as wakefulness had cleared the last hazy remnants of his dreams away, he'd been left with regret. Cold, lonely, unwelcomed and unacceptable. The arrogant fool that he most times was, he'd attributed the feeling of remorse to the fact that he'd dared seen his partner in such a crude light. It was unbecoming for someone who considered himself a gentleman.

However, it was until recently, when another vivid dream had left him hot and bothered, that he'd realized that the regret he felt was not for what had happened in his dreams, but precisely because it had only happened in his head. The disillusion of waking gave birth to regret. Regret that his vulnerable mind understood only when his subconscious was awake, bearing his innermost secrets, his fiercest desires, his fragile hopes.

And why would this realization be surprising? Tenten was, after all, not a prize for the best competitor! No, she was… she was… He growled. He truly didn't know. He knew what she meant but he was at a loss as to how to properly describe it. The closest he could get was betting that she was more important and unique than anything and everything else in his life, including his Clan!

Tenten shifted even closer, calling his attention back to her and to his present situation. It took only seconds for his male instincts to kick in and his hormones to pull his wayward thoughts down the gutter. Neji, all of a sudden feeling quite dizzy, pushed away from the bed. Without really thinking about the implications his actions might incur, he stripped his shirt off.

He lied down again, praying that the room temperature would cool down, only to feel Tenten's leg move upwards, her knee pressing into his groin. He closed his eyes again, concentrating on bringing the cursed, seared memory of Lee and Gai wearing speedos to the forefront of his mind. In seconds his primal urges where tamed and, with a sigh, he opened his eyes to stare at her.

He thought of moving back, of putting some distance between them if only to keep his dwindling sanity from fully slipping between his fingers. But as if to counter his plan, the hand which had held his moments ago, moved towards him and, finding his limb it slid halfway up his forearm, gripping him there and successfully holding him in place.

Neji's own hand, in instinctive reaction, twisted up to also grip her forearm. It was, he knew, his way of relaying that he was indeed pleased, if not incredibly comfortable, by the closeness they now shared. His only regret was that she wasn't aware of it. Regardless of it, the heart of the matter was that it felt right. This they were sharing… it came natural and it just felt as though this was what they were made for. This was why they'd met. This was what fate had dictated. Destiny weaved all our lives, did it not? So why fight destiny when it was clear to him, this was the path that it had set for him?

Yes. Tenten was his destiny. She had to be! And if not, then he would damn destiny and its cruel hands and he would chose to believe she was his path, his journey and his destination!

Neji stayed like that as the hours tickled by. Curled up on his side, watching her intently, he wondered what she would think if she knew he'd spent the entire night wide awake by her side. The thought did not deter him from gazing at the work of art that continued her peaceful slumber, her skin being repainted with different shades as the hours glided by. Until what were once dark shadows turned into soft shades...

Hyuga Neji did not know what time it was. He didn't even make the effort of trying to guess. He was too distracted to think of such banal things, which is why he was surprised when he heard the door opened after a quick knock. He extracted himself from her grasp smoothly but slowly, not wishing to stir her awake, even when he knew that the knock had already prompted just that.

To his irritation and, as inconsistently as it sounded, his satisfaction it was Sasuke the one who'd stepped inside. His dark gaze moved from him to the stirring Tenten, who was now stretching lazily, not fully aware –he guessed- of the two men who stared at her intently.

"Have you no manners, Uchiha," Neji stated dryly, crossing his arms and glaring coldly at him. He was about to stop there, but he couldn't help adding, "Common courtesy dictate to wait for the knock to be answered and permission granted before opening the door. What would have happened had she not been decent?"

Uchiha Sasuke frowned slightly, probably not liking the tone with which he was being addressed, but still had the gall to point out, "There's only one half-naked person here."

Neji was unaffected by the comment, though he did managed to perceive Tenten's gasp from somewhere behind him. He made it a point not to look at her, though he attributed the surprise he'd heard to be pleasant for otherwise he would have already felt some kind of sharp object pinching his slower spine, or so he supposed.

The silence intensified into almost palpable levels. A hostile-looking Sasuke crossed his arms and just returned Neji's glare. As the petty battle continued, Tenten seemed to have decided it was about time someone interrupted the testosterone-induced stupidity.

"Give it a rest, you two," she said, then stopped when she was unable to stifle a wide yawn. That established, she proceeded to ask, "Sasuke, what's going on out there? Did Sai already check today's fighting schedule?"

Sasuke turned his gaze on her and some of the tension in his shoulders ebbed away when he took in her curios but friendly expression. He lost all interest in Neji as he answered her.

"Yes. Sai just came back a couple of minutes ago. We'll be fighting today at three, since there are only four teams participating in the semi-finals." He paused and opened his arms slightly as though what he was going to say next was out of his control. "Unfortunately, Naruto is starving or, in his words, 'his stomach is eating itself'. Since it would be unusual to be seen without you, Sai and I deemed it best to have you come with us to get lunch."

"Why you?" Neji was unable to stop himself his possessiveness from intervening. "Isn't Lee normally the one who comes to get Tenten?"

He saw Tenten's eyebrows rise in surprise, probably at the fact that he knew of this since he hadn't been around. Of course, not because they hadn't seen him did it mean that he hadn't been keeping an eye on them… on her.

Sasuke shrugged and said, not to him, but to her, "I was free and so here I am."

Tenten nodded in either understanding or acceptance, maybe both, though it was painfully obvious that she hadn't been the one interested in that. Still, she said with approval, "It's a good call and we should do that, just give us a second first." She inched towards the edge of the bed, placing her feet on the cold floor. She shuddered slightly but continued offhandedly, "I'll just come and find you guys when I'm done. Tie Naruto down if you have to, and gag him if he starts to complain too loud." She smiled at Sasuke's questioning tilt of his head, "I cannot have my warriors throw a tantrum over such a silly thing now, can I?"

The Uchiha nodded curtly, though a small smile did erase some of the sternness Neji's presence had caused. Sparing one last guarded glance at him, Sasuke disappeared, closing the door behind him with a tad-bit more force than was necessary.

It was only after he left that Neji regretted not having put his shirt back on already. He suddenly felt quite vulnerable and, yes, nervous at being alone with a very conscious Tenten in a very well-lit room. Knowing he would have to face the inevitable eventually, Neji turned around and immediately found himself pinned by bright, honey eyes.

He fought the urge to cover himself and instead, placing one hand on a hip, shifted his weight onto his right foot. If she was going to scrutinize him, he might as well show all his goods.

Silently, Tenten quirked an eyebrow at him. Undaunted, Neji quirked one right back. After all, that was his way of asking a question and she'd picked the habit from him.

They stayed like that for a while. Neji felt his ego being inflated when, after rapidly sweeping his body with those doe eyes, her tongue darted out to wet her dry lips. The urge to smirk was proving difficult to ignore, but with the steely disciple he'd developed, he managed to keep his stoic mask successfully in place.

Perhaps it was due to the tension –which he damn well was feeling and he only hoped she was too- or maybe her mind had entertained other thoughts. Whatever it was, Tenten chuckled and said lightly, "Not that I am complaining or anything," she paused unabashedly, smiling at him with such mischief, that he felt like groaning, "but is there a reason why you decided to strip your shirt off?"

Yes, this was Tenten. This was how she dealt with a lot of situations. She jested. But at times –like this one- he wondered if that was just her defense mechanism kicking in. And if indeed it was, then what did it meant in a grander scale? Did it mean perhaps that she had feelings –even if it was only attraction, which at least was a step towards the same destination he'd set—for him too?

Well, if she decided to turn this into a joke, he would play her game… for now. "I was hot," he answered wryly, knowing that despite his attempt at nonchalance, his cheeks flushed with the underlying confession. He could feel them burn up as her eyes widened. But then, to his pleasure, he saw a much fiercer blush wiping her grin away and spreading through her cheeks and all the way up to her ears.

"Oh," she said, comprehending the other, truer, meaning of his words.

Right then, Neji couldn't help the smirk that twitched his lips. And in his mind, a silent voice reminded her, that's right, Tenten, I am merely a man after all.

-o0o-

~2 days later~

Tenten trudge through the crowd with a forced smile set on her face. Her teammates, some with bandages to keep their wounds from getting infected, walked around her, pushing people away as they slowly made their way back to the tavern.

"Well done, Silver Dancer!" A woman yelled from her right. When Tenten turned a smile on her, the woman squealed.

Though she was displaying a radiant smile, inside she was worried and angry and… utterly disappointed. They'd won, yes. They'd won the entire bloody thing. She'd ended up participating in the last fight, against her team's wishes, and she'd ended up with a bloody gash on her side, a sprained ankle that throbbed when she put too much weight on it and a dislocated shoulder, beside numerous smaller wounds. But what mattered is that she'd –they'd won!

And that wasn't precisely the problem. That was not the reason why her smile was forced and could not really reach her eyes. The problem was that that was it! They'd won and they'd been given their prize and the town was celebrating but there was no invitation, no strange man rushing up to her, no strange riddle being sent to her, nothing!

They'd won but they'd fail, and that had made her victory bittersweet. No, that actually gave her no victory. It just gave her bitterness. This was the first mission she'd been chosen –by Tsunade herself!—to lead and she'd somehow blown it!

Had she not shown enough skill? Granted, she hadn't used her latest moves or the most effective. She had just concentrated on the flashiness, on the smoothness, on the dance and not the fight! Perhaps that was it? Perhaps she'd gone at this all wrong? Perhaps she should have finished her opponents more swiftly instead of putting on a show? Had she gotten carried away…?

Damn it! Damn it! Dam—

She felt the steel more than saw it coming and barely managed to react before the kunai struck her right eye. Tenten twisted away and to the side, wobbling slightly when she'd put too much pressure into her sore ankle. Then, not missing a beat, she threw her cloak upwards and, feeling the tug of the projectile, she twisted the cloak around her arm. The kunai was successfully stopped and was now lying harmlessly on the dark folds of her cloak.

The closest civilians, who'd seen what had happened, backed away, looking around nervously. Her team, meanwhile, huddled closer, each person looking in a different direction. But Tenten knew about weapons. She knew how to read the wind, the trajectory and the speed. It was something that had been drilled into her head until she did in an unconscious level. Who had drilled this and when, for the life of her she could not remember! But regardless of that mystery, it promptly became, when she'd realized that no one understood weapons like she did, a sense that she ended up naming her 'steel sense'.

So, standing in the middle of a crowd, Tenten turned towards the general direction of where she knew the kunai had been thrown. And there, on the roof of a building to her right, leaning casually on a jutting chimney, she found a slim man. Finding himself under her gaze, he jumped to the street below and, with little problems –for the crowd was weary and not pushy anymore—he weaved his way towards her. As he approached, she noticed an amused grin parting his lips, his dark eyes twinkling as he locked his gaze with hers.

"My apologies, Silver Dancer," he said bowing shallowly.

His dark brown cloak opened somewhat to reveal an athletic body clad in black clothes. Hanging on his side, she also detected a curved, sheathed blade. Tenten's eyes jumped back to his and she took note of the increase in the man's amusement when she'd flicked her gaze down his form.

"I did not mean you any harm," he confided, his eyes sparing a furtive glance at Sasuke, who was barring his way and had a hand on the hilt of his sword in warning. "My aim is just… not as good as I would like to think, it appears."

Tenten's eyes narrowed. Something didn't feel right. Carefully retrieving the kunai that had been thrown at her, she twirled it expertly between her fingers. Smirking, she threw it –with all her might, which was less than usual since her shoulder still hurt—past the strange, dark-headed man. The man's eyes widened slightly. She knew he was aware that she had not been aiming at him, even when his hand –which he'd quickly removed- had been on the kunai's path.

She heard the thud of the blade hitting something, probably a wall, followed by a grunt and a chain of what she guessed could have been curses. Another man walked out from where he'd been hiding in the shadows, a shallow cut on his cheek. He was taller than the first, wider on the chest and with more muscles on his arms. His hair was likewise dark in color, but whereas the first warrior had long hair gathered in a high ponytail, this one had shorter and messier hair.

As he approached them, his less sun-burned face held a scowling expression and his dark, russet eyes showed indignation and, underneath that, a temper which must have had a short fuse.

The smiling warrior turned towards the bigger man that was making his way towards them, chuckled and said lightheartedly, "Oh, you seemed to have found my friend." His gaze turned to her and he warned, "You also seemed to have made him mad."

Tenten shrugged. "Mad? Whatever would he be mad for?" she said jeeringly, "I was merely returning something of his. Now, me," she pointed at herself for emphasis but grew sober and stern when she continued. "I would be rather angry if someone took something of mine and did not bother to return it. I also," she was threatening him and he knew it, "do not take it lightly when someone uses me for target practice. Particularity someone," her eyes turned to the warrior that was by now standing behind the first one, "who's clearly in dire need of some lessons in weaponry."

The bull of a man growled in response and gave a menacing step forward. But the way was now barred not only by Sasuke, but by Sai and Naruto too, while Lee was still on Tenten's rear.

"What did you say!" the man snarled angrily.

Tenten smirked, "Oh, he's also in clear need of hearing aid, it would seem."

The first man, still smiling, placed a hand on the other man's chest and the bigger man stopped, his anger not quite leaving him though. Tenten suppressed her surprise. She'd though that the second man had rank over the other, since the first one had walked right into a potentially dangerous zone while the other one had remained in hiding. However, there had been power in the silent order given by the slimmer man, and there had been deference in the body language of the bigger one. No. The first one was the one in charge and therefore the one she had to be the most weary about.

"I know we've started on the wrong foot," the slim man said, his eyes back on Tenten, dark orbs still amused, "But perhaps you may allow me to make it up to you in a more… private place?"

Naruto growled and shoved a finger on the man's chest, which tensed the bigger man even if it only further amused his companion, "Not a chance, pervert!"

Tenten blinked and, slowly comprehending how the blonde' mind had so obviously gone down the gutter, she rolled her eyes and pulled him back non-too-gently. Blue eyes questioned her but she just spared him a reproving glare, before refocusing her attention on the grinning male.

"There's a private room in the tavern we're staying at," she said, "I hope that should suffice?"

The man nodded in agreement, "Lead the way."

She took out one of her kunais and, twirling it between her fingers in warning, she added, "This better be worth my time, crow."

She'd made up his nickname as she went, adding the right amount of disgust to the last word to let him know she had not decided yet if she liked him or not. She also hoped that, with that, she would prompt him to yield his name.

As expected, the man extended his hand and introduced himself without losing the smile, "Oh, my apologies for my rudeness. Name's Shin. Oshiro Shin."

Tenten nodded curtly but ignored his hand. She saw the bigger man bristling even more, but if Shin was affronted, he hid it well.

"Simmer down and watch your manners, Hiro," he said to his companion, his voice still quite cheerful, "We are not here to make enemies."

Heeding Sai's look of 'caution', she decided to relent from trying to find the men's limits and so, committing their names to memory, she turned around and led the way. Without having to be told, Sai and Sasuke brought in the flank while Lee and Naruto positioned themselves as a human barricade between her and the newcomers. And throughout the short, silent and heavily tensed journey, Tenten smiled inwardly with satisfaction. Because, though they'd yet to state it, she knew she had not failed her mission.

The invitation had finally come.

To be continued…