New chapter is here! As I mentioned previously, Diablo200030002002 gave me a nice idea a while back for Ino and Tenten and I just couldn't wait to do it. I think it's going to be a major step for Tenten in her attempts with Ino.

Chapter 7)

A day and a half had passed since the four member jonin squad consisting of Kakashi, Kurenai, Gai and Twisted had left on their mission. They were just returning to the village, having successfully completed the task that they had been set on. It had been to retrieve a stolen scroll, a very old and valuable one, and return it to a small village just off the border of the land of fire. As Tsunade had said, it was fairly easy. Kakashi and Gai had provided a distraction and handled most of the gang that had stolen the scroll while Twisted snuck inside and retrieved it. Then Kurenai had cast a genjutsu on the gang allowing them to escape with ease. Fortunately the gang members weren't shinobi, just a dangerous group of thugs, so the genjutsu was plenty affective on them.

Now back inside the gates of the village, Kurenai went off to deliver the mission report to Tsunade while Kakashi and Gai returned to what they usually do between missions, meaning intense training and reading Icha Icha paradise. Twisted however started to just walk around the village, feeling a mix of boredom and frustration. His hopes to leave the village had dwindled ever since getting put on that mission and he had decided to wait until the next opportunity presented itself before trying again. Until then, he'd just have to put up with living in the village. The only thing that bugged him is that there wasn't really anything for him to do around the place aside from eating and using the public baths. He recalled the days when he had caused trouble for Naruto and Hinata. Now those were good times, for him at least. If only he hadn't been caught, then he could have maybe messed with them a little more. But he wouldn't be able to get away with it now that Hinata had her temporary condition. The last thing he wanted was for Naruto to go nuts on him again. A shudder ran down Twisted's spine as he recalled that particular incident.

Snapping from his thoughts, Twisted saw some familiar faces ahead. It looked like Tenten was talking to Ino and Sakura, the blonde girl trying to stay away from the brunette who was probably bugging her again. Twisted smiled, he may not be able to pull anything with Naruto or Hinata anymore, but he figured he could mess with those two. But to be safe he'd keep it simple, and he had a good idea of what to do. There was a new jutsu he was developing that he'd wanted to test out. But first, he'd just have a little fun.

Sneaking off the road and into an alley, he performed a transformation jutsu. He was enveloped in a cloud of smoke and when it cleared, he was disguised as Tsunade. Returning to the main street, Twisted approached the three girls. Going up to Tenten, Tsunade smiled at her.

"There you are, I've been looking all over for you."

Tenten turned to look at her, "Lady Tsunade. Did you need me?"

"Hmm, well it isn't so much a need as it is a want."

The brunette blinked in confusion, "I'm sorry?"

Tsunade giggled, "I wanted to see you, you silly girl! I've noticed that you're feelings towards Ino haven't been returned. So I was wondering if you'd perhaps consider giving me a chance."

Tenten, Ino, and Sakura all looked shocked by the sudden statement. All three blushed and stared at Tsunade in disbelief. The older 'woman' looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

Sakura managed to recover from the shock first, "Well it's just a little surprising. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we never thought you'd…" she blushed, looking down at her feet. "It's weird seeing you act like this."

"Aw, are you jealous Sakura?" Tsunade smirked and placed her hand on Sakura's cheek, caressing it and making the girl blush intensely. "You're my apprentice Sakura and I've always thought you were cute. But you never caught on to my feelings for you. So please don't be upset that I've found someone else alright?"

Tsunade turned back to face Tenten, leaving Sakura stunned and blushing from what she had just been told. While Sakura was left unable to think of how she should feel with all this, Ino stepped forward next, looking highly annoyed.

"You too!? What is wrong with this village?! You're the Hokage! You shouldn't be flirting with girls, especially when they're young enough to be your grandchildren!!!"

Tsunade gave Ino a small glare and poked her in the forehead, "And you're just a little genin who has hardly any experience in the shinobi world. You shouldn't be talking down to your superiors like that." Smirking, the older 'woman' continued, "But I'll let it slide this time. I can't blame you for being jealous that I'm trying to steal your girlfriend from you."

Ino's eye twitched, "SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

"Oh? Then you won't mind me kissing her now will you?"

Once again the three girls were stunned by what they had just heard. Tenten was now, like Sakura, frozen in place out of shock. Tsunade leaned forward, about to plant a kiss on Tenten's lips. Just before they met, Ino grabbed Tenten and pulled her out of the way and then glared at Tsunade.

"Back off! She already has someone!..." Ino caught herself and quickly regretted the words that had escaped her mouth. "I mean, um…"

Tsunade smirked, "That's all I needed to hear…" with that Twisted released the transformation. Seeing his true identity, the girls experienced a mixture of emotions. Relief, irritation, embarrassment, confusion and above all anger. Twisted laughed at the looks on their faces, provoking Tenten who was clearly not amused.

"It was you!?" Tenten punched Twisted, the man taking the punch and falling back onto his ass. His body broke down into water and splashed onto the ground. He stepped up behind the brunette and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down, if anything you should be thanking me." He was shut up a second later by Sakura, who was now in a bad mood. She slugged him in the stomach, managing to actually hurt him, unlike when Tenten had tried. He fell to his knees under the already improving strength of the pink haired girl, who glared down at him.

"How's that for a 'thank you'?!"

Taking a moment to get the air back into his lungs, Twisted stood back up and smirked. "Hey, if not for my little prank on you three, Ino wouldn't have come out and actually shown some affection toward Tenten."

Tenten looked over at the blonde girl, thinking over what the man had just said. Ino blushed and took a step back, watching the brunette warily.

"Hey don't get any ideas! It isn't because I like you or anything! I just didn't want to have to watch you two make out. That's all!"

The brunette was about to question the blonde, but something clicked in her mind. She paled a little as a look of disgust came to her face. "Oh gross, Twisted almost kissed me! EW!" She shuddered and stepped closer to Ino, "Thank you so much Ino-chan. I almost made a big mistake. Here, let me thank you properly."

She went closer to Ino, preparing to just give her a little peck on the cheek. Ino backed away, "Don't you dare! I'm not interested so just stay away from me!"

Tenten stopped, looking a little hurt that Ino was still being cold towards her, "But why not? You let me give you kisses on the cheek the day before yesterday."

"I didn't let you! You just did it and caught me off guard! If I had known, I would have stopped you!"

Twisted sighed and shook his head. "It's rather sad that you can't even give her a chance Ino. If you're going to be like that, then maybe I should help Tenten out a little."

He went through a series of hand signs, going too fast for any of them to see. When he finished his right hand glowed blue and his left hand glowed red. In the next instant he charged toward Ino and Tenten, slapping Ino's right hip with his right hand and Tenten's left hip with his left hand. Both girl's blushed and glared at him.

"Hey! What was that for!?

"Yeah! First you try to kiss me and now you're trying to grab my butt!? What kind of weird perv are you?!"

Tenten went to take a step forward so she could hit him, but felt an invisible force tugging at the left side of her hips. As she tried to move, Ino felt a similar force tugging on her right hip. Both girls looked down, curious as to what was going on. Tenten tried moving forward again, putting more effort into it and as a result, Ino was pulled in the same direction and nearly fell. Tenten saw her out of the corner of her eye and just barely managed to catch her in time.

"Are you alright Ino-chan!?"

Ino gave a small nod, blushing a little in the brunette's arms. But then she realized just where she was and pushed the girl away, getting back onto her feet. Sakura had watched the whole thing and quickly guessed what was going on. She turned toward Twisted, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"What did you do to them?!"

Twisted smirked, "Nothing bad, if that's what you're wondering. I've been developing a new jutsu and used it on them. That's all; it's actually rather impressive. Here's how it works." He lifted his hands which started to glow again just like before. "I focus my charka into my hands and then manipulate the nature of each, giving them opposing magnetic polarities. Then I implant the two opposing chakras into two separate things, in this case it was Ino and Tenten. The two became magnetically charged by my charka and are now influenced by the magnetic force between them that I created. Here, let me give you another demonstration."

Using his right hand he pulled out a Kunai and it became absorbed in the blue chakra. He went over to a nearby tree and placed his other hand on it, the red glow being absorbed into the plant. The kunai in his right hand started to shake a little bit, as though it were trying to escape. Twisted walked back a little, holding the kunai by the handle with only his thumb and index finger. The weapon seemed to struggle to escape him more violently with each step he took away from the tree. He stopped and then released the kunai, the blade hurtling towards the tree at an amazing speed and embedding itself all the way inside it as it struck. The girls looked on in awe at what had just happened. Satisfied with their reactions, Twisted continued.

"As you just saw, the kunai immediately went into the tree. This is because my jutsu turned them both into super powerful magnets. I did the same to Ino and Tenten, but didn't make the magnetic attraction as powerful. Both Ino's right hip and Tenten's left hip are magnetically attracted to the other. But the attraction is weak enough that the two can be up to a meter apart without the magnetic forces acting on them. If one of them tries to go in one direction, the other will be pulled that way against their will. In other words, Ino and Tenten, the two of you might was well be joined at the hip."

Finishing up his little speech, Twisted let the girls absorb what they had just heard. As to be expected of Ino, she clearly didn't like it and ran up to the man, unintentionally making Tenten follow her due to the attraction between them.

"What!? You had better fix this right now! I am NOT having HER follow her me everywhere because of you!!"

Tenten regained her footing and tried to calm the blonde down, "Ino-chan, I think you're overreacting a little. Besides, I bet this will just wear off after a little bit."

Twisted smirked again, "Sorry but no. The jutsu won't wear off unless I reverse it. I'll be happy to do it for you but…"

Ino raised her eyebrow "But what?"

"But, you girls need to do a little something for me. How about you two go for a little walk, get something to eat and take a bath together. Then come back here and I'll undo the jutsu. Agreed?"

Ino opened her mouth, about to decline but Tenten clamped her hand over the girl's mouth. "Deal, we'll meet back here in an hour."

Ino pushed the brunette's hand away, "What!?"

"Do you want to be stuck with me forever? I don't mind having you by my side always, but I know you don't want to so we'll just get this over with and you can go back to avoiding me. 'Kay?"

Ino blushed a little and looked away from Tenten, "Whatever. Let's just go already."

Tenten smiled and started to follow the blonde as she walked off. Sakura watched them go and then looked over to Twisted.

"I don't get you. You say you hate the village, but you were obviously just trying to help Tenten with Ino. Could it be you're nicer than you let on?"

Twisted scoffed and went to leave, "Don't get any ideas, I was bored. And the tension between those two is practically palpable so I decided to exploit that. Nothing more."

He vanished into a shadow and left Sakura by herself. The girl shrugged and decided to head over to the library for a while. She wanted to see what happened between Ino and Tenten, but opted to let them be. They could work things out by themselves, after all they were both able to be reasonable.

-----X-----

"Come on Ino-chan, be reasonable."

"No! You stay as far away from me as possible! Just because we have to do this doesn't mean that I'm going to let you try anything, so back off!"

Tenten pouted and moved a little to the side, giving Ino more personal space. An awkward silence filled the gap between them, well…awkward for Tenten that is. She had been hoping that this would be an opportunity for her to get closer to the blonde, but Ino seemed just as adverse to that idea as ever. She tried to think up something, anything that she could say or do to try to appease the blonde. Suddenly remembering Ino's weakness, she smiled and looked at the girl.

"So…what should we do about getting something to eat? He did say we had to do that."

"I'm not hungry!"

As though to protest her statement, Ino's stomach let out a growl of hunger. The girl blushed and Tenten smirked knowingly.

"Liar, come on let's go."

She grabbed Ino by the wrist and took off, dragging the girl behind her. Ino protested and tried to pull her arm free, but to no avail. Tenten brought her to a dango shop, the same place she had gotten the sweet dumplings when she had been helping Ino mess with Naruto for Twisted. The brunette got two orders to go and then dragged Ino back out of the shop. Heading for a less settled part of the village, Tenten brought Ino to a bench near the small river that ran through the village. Sitting down, Tenten took out a skewer and ate one of the dango. She took out another and held it out to the blonde who had to sit down to her left.

Ino reached for the food, but Tenten pulled it back and smiled at the blonde teasingly.

"Uh-uh. You got to say you're sorry for snapping at me before."

Ino hesitated a moment before speaking, "Sorry."

"No, say it like you mean it Ino-chan."

The blonde sighed, "I'm sorry for snapping at you."

Tenten smirked, "Say 'Please Ten-chan, forgive me for being mean.' And say it cute!"

Ino's eye twitched "You're starting to push your luck Ten-chan!"

Letting out a giggle, Tenten handed the skewer to Ino who started to eat it. From there on they ate in silence. Soon almost all of the dango were gone aside from two that Tenten had left over.

"Would you like one of these, Ino-chan?"

Ino nodded a little, unable to resist her favorite. Tenten took one of the remaining dumplings between her lips and leaned forward. It took Ino a second to catch on. Tenten wanted her to eat it from her mouth. Blushing she gave the girl a small glare. Tenten ate the dango herself and took the last one off with her fingers, holding it up to Ino's mouth.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist. Here…" she pressed the dumpling to Ino's lips. Ino opened her mouth, not thinking of what she was doing and let the other girl feed her. As Tenten pushed the dumpling in she intentionally smeared a little bit of it on the corner of Ino's mouth. Once Ino finished it, Tenten pointed it out, smirking.

"You've got a little something on your face Ino. Here, I'll get it for you."

She leaned forward and licked the bit of Dango off of Ino's mouth. Ino blushed, completely caught off guard. Tenten let her lips hover in front of Ino's, slowly closing in for a kiss. Ino turned her head and pushed the brunette away. She looked a little upset.

"Stop, just please stop."

Hearing the tone in her voice, Tenten backed off. She looked at the other girl sympathetically, "What's wrong?"

"You scare me, okay? Every time you come near me I feel funny and it confuses me. It happens when you tease me, when you smile at me, even if I just see you look at me the way you do. Why can't you just leave me alone!? Then I wouldn't have to feel this way anymore."

Tenten pulled Ino into a hug, feeling the girl tense up at the contact. "I'm sorry Ino-chan; I didn't know I was doing that to you. I didn't mean to make you so uncomfortable." She held the girl for a moment, noticing that Ino seemed to be even more uneasy than before. Tenten let out a sigh and got up, "Come on, you need to relax. I think it's time we took that bath."

Helping Ino to her feet, Tenten escorted her to a nearby bath house and the two went into the girl's side. Tenten started to undress, starting by letting down her hair, but Ino refused to strip in front of her. Tenten turned and looked down at the floor, completely avoiding looking at Ino.

"Go ahead, I promise I won't peek."

Ino hesitated but then quickly removed her clothes and wrapped herself in a towel. Tenten did the same and the two went out to the water. Inside the bathing area, they found that Kurenai and Hinata were also enjoying the baths. Apparently neither Hinata nor Naruto had taken a bath in the past couple days. When Kurenai had found out, she made it a priority to take them out so they could clean up. As a bonus, she had gotten permission to take them outside of the hospital, allowing Hinata some fresh air. Ino and Tenten sat down near them and soon enough a conversation started by asking how Hinata was doing. The girl gave them a quick update on how she was feeling and then looked over to the fence separating the men's side from theirs. Kurenai explained that Hinata was just a little worried since Naruto wasn't in sight, but was definitely on the other side, taking his bath by himself.

"It's alright Hinata. You saw him go into the men's side before we came in here."

"I know, but…" she blushed a little, "I still wish that he could have come in here like he wanted to."

Ino and tenten both gawked at Hinata for her statement. Kurenai told them that in an attempt to be courteous to Hinata's condition, Naruto had tried to come in to join them on the women's side when they had first arrived. He had been intending on using the Sexy Jutsu so he could do it, but Kurenai had made it very clear that it wasn't going to happen.

From the other side of the fence, they heard Naruto calling out to them. He was done with his bath and was going to be waiting outside for Hinata and Kurenai. The two got up, saying that they should be going as well. They exited the baths, leaving Ino and Tenten alone. An awkward silence passed between the two. Tenten averted her eyes, knowing that Ino wouldn't like it if she kept looking at her. Ino however was hugging her knees to her chest, her eyes closed tight as though she was afraid. There was no question as to why.

Letting out a sigh, Tenten grabbed Ino's wrist and pulled her into her lap. The blonde was startled very much by this and struggled a bit, but calmed down when Tenten glared at her. She laid Ino's head against her shoulder and wrapped her arm around the girl's waist. With her free hand, she reached up and started to gently stroke the girl's hair. Tenten closed her eyes and relaxed, enjoying the moment.

"There, is this really so bad?"

"N-no, but…just don't touch me anywhere, okay?"

Tenten giggled and kissed Ino's forehead, "I promise I won't do anything naughty to you Ino-chan."

The next few minutes the two spent just like that, Ino slowly becoming more comfortable in the brunette's arms. Ino looked up at Tenten and just stared at her a little. She had never seen the girl with her hair down before and she found herself finding the other girl…attractive. Ino blushed and started to question her own thoughts. She didn't get to do it for long because Tenten went to get up, making Ino have to stand as well.

"I think it's been long enough. Come on, let's go and find Twisted so he can undo this jutsu of his."

They returned to the changing room and started to put their clothes back on. Ino finished dressing first and went over to Tenten.

"Tenten?"

"Yes, Ino-chan?"

Ino blushed and hesitated a moment, "Thank you, for not watching me strip or touching me when we were in the bath. I appreciated it…so…h-here." She planted a chaste kiss on the other girl's cheek, catching her off guard. Tenten placed her hand on her cheek, still able to feel the blonde's lips. Ino looked down at her feet, "Don't get any ideas, I only did that because I…I guess I have been a little cold to you. You aren't the stalker I made you out to be."

Tenten smiled and gave Ino a kiss on the cheek, "That means a lot to me. Thank you, now let's go."

She held out her hand to the other girl. Ino hesitated but took it in her own and together they set back out to find Twisted. As he had told them earlier, he was waiting for them in the same spot he had put the jutsu on them. The two approached him, Tenten giving him a mild glare.

"We did what you asked, now keep your end of the deal!"

"Calm down, I'll do it. But first I want you to do just one more thing. I want you each to do a request for the other. I think that should be simple enough, alright?"

Tenten looked over to the blonde, "What do you say Ino-chan? Is there something you want me to do for you?"

Ino thought for a second. "I want you to keep what happened today between us. No telling anyone."

"Okay, I'll keep it secret. But I want you to give me a kiss on the lips in return."

The blonde blushed and hesitated but closed her eyes and puckered her lips. Tenten smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Ino pulled away when it was over and covered her mouth with her hand. She looked confused and a little ashamed, but mostly confused. Twisted kept his word and, once more channeling the red and blue chakras into his hands, undid the jutsu. Ino took off once it was removed, not even sparing a passing glance at the other two. Tenten sighed and watched the other girl take off. She had been so sure that she had been making progress with the girl, but now Ino seemed as adverse to her advances as ever. Maybe asking for the kiss had been a bit much, as far as Tenten was concerned, it was Ino's first.

Twisted noticed the distant look in the girl's eyes and quickly figured out what was going on. With a smirk, he stood next to her "You know, if you want, I could do the jutsu on you two again. Only this time I could make it stronger so you're stuck even closer to each other. I could even fix it so your hand would be magnetically attracted to Ino's butt. Then you could feel her up and she couldn't stop you."

Tenten turned to look at him, a small smile on her lips. "Thanks, but no thanks. If I had you do that, then that would mean you'd have to touch Ino's butt. And that's something only I'm going to get to do."

She turned and left for her home; in her mind she was resolving on trying even harder to get Ino's attention. Today she had defiantly made an important step, all she had to do was get Ino to open up to her a little more. And that was going to be much easier now than it had been before.

TBC

Okay, so it seems that there's been some progress with Ino and Tenten. Next chapter is going to focus on both them and Naruto and Hinata. Then the chapter after that is going to be almost entirely them. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll try to get the next one up soon.