Revised: 5/28/2012

Thank you again to my awesome reviewers: DarkAnonymous324, Birdbwainz, Kenzinator, Anniewanny2, Chibi-Kyuubi-Chan, Sleepyreader319, and Just Lovely. You guys are awesome!

"In order to have something stand, one must risk letting it fall."

~Legend of the Seeker~

"Melted Steel"

By: FenixPhoenix (Giselle González)

Chapter 10: "Soundless Darkness"

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

The days roll by slowly, so very slowly. Without exception, they all come to an end with me curled up on my bed, agonizing with the fear that the last time I saw him it was with anger in my heart. Every week we receive a letter from him, reporting what's happening, reassuring us that he's fine, asking us what we've been up to. And every week I send one back, a long one, detailing every single thing that Tenten has done. I do not wish him to miss even one moment of her life.

Yaemon comes often. I do not say this out loud for fear of misinterpretation, but I have become eager for his company to a point where the smiles we exchange aren't awkward or fake anymore. Rather, they are comfortable and even somewhat happy. Unlike the bloody rumors flying around about a romance building between us, we know the truth. It is not romance, but friendship. Yes, we've become close, but I see Yaemon now as my own brother, nothing more, nothing less. In that way… I guess you can say that I do love him.

With unbound relief I learn that Mama Bear sees the situation as it is as well. I do not even want to imagine what Ryuu would think, how he would feel if he thought that I've betrayed him. I fear he would stop fighting and allow death to take him, and that I cannot permit. So I do my best to play the part of clan's head in the absence of my husband, and I command all rumors to stop else they encounter my wrath. That seems to do the trick, either that or Mama Bear's glare thrown over my shoulder. I do not tell her with words that I've seen her support and am happy for it. Instead I just relay my heartfelt thanks with a look. She understands, of course. She is, after all, the master when it comes to conveying things with eyes alone.

The days turned to weeks, the weeks to months, the months to years. The pain of Ryuu's absence is constant and unrelenting, palpitating with each beat of my heart. But it has become less intense, allowing me to not shed as many tears anymore. Or perhaps I have just run out of tears? Would that be possible? Could someone cry so much for so very long that her reserve of tears comes to an end? For me, the thought doesn't feel as inane as it would have had I remained the Black Widow.

It is sunny today.

The warmth is so intense that all training has ceased across the compound in favor of finding cover under a shade and dozing up or relaxing with mundane conversations. Yaemon -off duty for the day- came to visit, bringing Tenten another one of the wooden toys he likes to carve for her. While relaxing on the porch with my child between us, we hear her speak her first word. It stuns me and breaks my heart.

Her first word had been 'dad', but it hadn't been towards Ryuu.

I stay very still, not knowing how to proceed, not knowing how to tell her not to say that without accidently insulting my new friend, my new brother in more than just name. Yaemon stands up and promptly disappears inside the house. I fear that he would go and leave me to this mess. So I twist on my seat, not really knowing what to say but wanting him to come back and help me make her understand. Yet, my fears prove baseless when he returns shortly after. As he approaches, I notice that he's holding an object delicately, reverently even. I recognize the frame and smile and wait and hold my breath. The frame holds a picture of Ryuu with Tenten on his arms, taken by Yeamon himself shortly after she'd been born.

Yaemon sits back on the porch and Tenten is quick to climb on his lap, like she likes to do when he visits. He allows it with a smile and, once she's settled, he shows her the picture he carries. He points to the handsome, grinning figure that is Ryuu and I detect the slight trembling of his finger.

"This is your dad," he says, tapping his face and repeating, "dad."

Tenten's doe eyes take in the image and I can see the gears in her little head working to make sense of it. After a pause, in which I admit I lost hope that she would understand, she points at the picture, at Ryuu and echoes, "Dad."

Yaemon is just as ecstatic as me with his success so that he laughs and agrees and kisses the top of her brown mat of hair. Tenten replies with a hearty giggle of her own as I join in the laughter. I doubt, despite how quick she is to grasp things, that she understands the reason for our happiness, but part of me wonders if I am selling her short. As if attracted by my thoughts, she turns to me and beams. Kami, that wide smile reminds me so very much of her dad... that it hurts a little to see it. But still, I'm glad she looks more like him than me, for she'll turn out to be a very handsome woman once she's older, of that I am certain.

"This is your uncle," I point at Yaemon, "Ya-e-mon."

Tenten twists her neck so that she's looking up at him. She grabs his nose in her little hand, pulls at it and echoes, "Un Ya-e-mon." Yaemon chuckles at her antique and nods, pulling his nose out of her grip and taking her little hand instead. Then, pointing to me he is about to say something, when Tenten interrupts him with a yell, "Ma-ma!"

I cry then amidst proud laughter. I guess that I haven't run out of tears after all, huh? I also wonder if from me she would inherit a tongue of silver. That, at the very least, is a skill I do not mind passing down to her, hoping that it would get her out of the trouble that she would surely get into. She has, after all, Tetsua blood.

More days pass by and Tenten is four, already a master with her wooden swords, or so Yaemon insists. The news had spread, the war is over and we are on the losing side. I do not know how to feel, whether sad or happy, so instead I settle for solemnity. At the very least, the Fire had taken some damage as well, and because of that, despite the fact that they came out victorious in the battle that counted the most, they do not move in to punish the Earth further. Instead, they retreat back to their own territory, back to the greens and browns of a landscape that hasn't been as devastated as their enemies'.

Kami! It is hard, even now, after all this years, after all I've done… after all I've betrayed, to call this country my own. And yet, I do not, I cannot regard the Fire and Konoha any differently. I am… lost in between two countries and, therefore, in a way, I belong to none.

I'm torn. Even if part of me is indeed happy that my former home had won, the other part shares the pain of those around me. I share their depression and ask the same 'what-ifs'. The only thing, really, that makes me truly happy is the thought that Ryuu has made it and would be back soon. Kami, I still can't believe it! He's kept his promise! I cannot wait for the day I see his face again. I confess that I've almost forgotten what his voice sounds like, what his lips taste like…

I go out to get some groceries, having left Tenten under the care of Yaemon. When I come back a couple of hours later, I find him sitting on the porch stairs, tears streaming down his cheeks. I freeze in fear and let go of the bags of groceries. That makes him look up at me and what must be my pale, pained expression. He's quick to come to my aid and holds me when I start to sway with the implications of his sadness. Except, now that he's close, I see the smile on his lips and I'm… confused.

"W-wha…?" the question dies on my lips unfinished as I realize that there's commotion everywhere. I can hear sobs and squeals and laughter coming from the nearby houses. I take in the duffle bags left on porches, forgotten under the onslaught of cheerfulness and tears.

They've come back!

The soldiers who've made it are back!

Yaemon nods at me, as if having read my thoughts, and I push away, feeling my legs –despite their sudden lack of strength- swallow the distance to my house. I pull the door open, not sure what I would find, and I… I cannot give one more step, I cannot bring one more breath into my lungs, I cannot think on what to say first, I cannot enunciate any other word than his name. His sweet, sweet name in a tenuous whisper…

"Ryuu."

He is sitting on the couch with Tenten pressed against his flank, half-sitting in his lap, crying her little eyes out as he hugs her tight to him. I am pleased that she didn't shy away from him, that she wasn't scared of him like many other children would have been. Just more corroboration of how special the kid is.

Ryuu pulls his gaze away from our daughter to look at me and he smiles, his eyes tearful, his frame a bit leaner than when he'd left. "Saori," he calls to me in that voice I've almost forgotten, that voice that makes me shudder with longing.

I go to them and hug him and kiss him and whisper what I know would make him happiest, "Welcome home."

He laughs and it's a beautiful, beautiful sound. "I'm home." His arm tightens about both of us. "Kami, I missed you guys…," he kisses Ten's temple and then my own before adding, "Saori…Tenten…I love you guys and I'm sorry for-"

I kiss him to stop an apology that I no longer need, happy that our family has been reunited at long last. And I promise, as I feel his lips answering mine, that I will never allow myself to forget the taste again, no matter what happens, no matter what the future has in store for us. Maybe, just maybe, the future will for once deal me a good set of cards…

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

-o0o-

Hyuga Neji had his entire world shaken throughout the entire journey back. He'd allowed no one, save Lee and Gai, to hold Tenten as the group of males pushed past their limitations. All of them had wanted nothing more than to reach Konoha and have someone who could actually help do something for Tenten.

It was a devastating blow, the one they'd been dealt. To the point that even when holding onto professionalism, the journey had been grim and silent. The silence that had enveloped them, however, had been broken now and then by Tenten's groans and gasps and hollers and sniffs. Neji had never despised silence like he did that time. It had been painful to hear the distress of the only person he truly cared about and know that he could do nothing to stop it.

He'd been impotent. It had strongly reminded him of when he'd last seen his dad, walking to what he knew was an unfair execution, knowing that no one could do anything to stop it. Even till this day, the guilt of knowing he'd tried nothing was almost unbearable. He could not allow the same to happen here, with her. She was all he cared about and he'd not been given the opportunity yet to let her know. She could not leave him like his dad had done, not when he'd just come to terms with the fact that, somewhere along the way, she'd stolen his heart.

As soon as they'd touched Konoha, Neji had rushed to the hospital with his entourage on tow. Chaos ensured when they'd stepped inside the building. Someone had ordered him to place Tenten on a bed and, though hesitant when thinking this could be the last day he held her in his arms, he'd done it. All for the sake of having her smile at him one more time. He would give his very life for her if it was needed.

People moved all around her, looking and prodding and commenting in whispers to one another about her condition. He did not like the implications of their frowns, or how they gave each other worried looks. At some point, someone had been stupid enough to try to pull him out the room. Neji, though, had stood his ground and glared daggers at whoever thought to try to convince him to leave. He would not leave her. Not until he knew she was out of danger. Maybe not then even. He could never leave her, really. Not unless she'd asked him to. And even then, he would have to try because by this point, his very life was hers.

When Sakura had come into the room and had seen him there, arms crossed, tensed body and a glare to match his mood, she'd signaled the staff to leave him alone. Patiently, she'd listen to the staff whisper their thoughts before she'd moved to Tenten and had tried to determine what was happening to her. Her deep frown marked her lack of success and it was thus that Tsunade was called.

When the Sanin came into the crowded room, everyone became silent. With a look, she'd sent everyone out, except for him and Sakura. Neji was glad. He did not know if he was yet ready to stand up to the Hokage for something like this, not because he was afraid of her, but because he was afraid to answer when she asked for his reasons. And he was sure she would. If there was something she liked more than sake, it was delving into the love life of her ninjas.

After a brief examination of Tenten's charts, she prodded every part of her unconscious body, intrigued when she found neither physical nor internal wounds. When she reached her head, she placed a hand on each temple and closed her eyes.

Neji unconsciously activated his byakugan and was surprised to find Tsunade's own chakra seeping into Tenten and bringing forth something that had been hidden from him. Slowly but surely a strange crown of runes appeared tattooed on Tenten's head. It was something he'd never seen before. But Tsunade seemed to recognize it because she'd spoke the name of her teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage in wonderment.

He'd next studied her as she tried to undo –or at least he supposed that's what she was doing—one of the energy runes in the chain. Her brow had soon been marked by confusion, frustration and sweat. Never had anything looked so very challenging to the Sanin as this did.

A commotion outside had interrupted, followed by the rushing, loud form of his former sensei. He'd demanded Tsunade to stop –by almost barreling into her, no less—from undoing the spell the Third Hokage had weaved. Angry at the interruption, or maybe at almost being throttled, she'd sent Gai to her office and was about to follow, when Tenten convulsed. Checking on her once her body had become still, Tsunade had spoke the words that froze his hear.

"Damn that beast!" she'd cursed and turning to him she'd explained in a calmer voice, "She's in a coma, Hyuga."

Then she was gone. Just like that. And Neji's world seem to crumble just a little more.

To keep his mind away from the bleak situation, he'd put all his energies and efforts into finding out what had caused Tenten's breakdown in the first place. He knew it had to do with the Oschiro Clan, but it made no sense to him! Tenten was Konoha to the bone, she'd never gone out of the country except for small missions here and there and normally Neji was part of them. The Earth could not have had contact with his teammate without Hyuga Neji finding out.

With no better alternative, Neji had left his post beside Tenten's bed after visiting hours had ended the next day and gone to find the one man who seemed to know what was going on. Neji had broken into his house like a dark storm. Gai had acted as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened, as though the glare in his face had always been there –which granted, it most of the times was—but not this intense!

He'd tried to talk first, then they'd move to a heated discussion, then they'd snapped at each other, both wanting to put blame on someone else. Finally, he'd demanded that Gai spilled what he knew. Neji had been adamant in his efforts to extract information from his former sensei. However, Gai had proven formidable in the defense of his secrets and so Neji had been forced into doing the unthinkable.

By the third day, more panicked and overwhelmed by the secrets that could cost Tenten her bloody life, Neji had broken into the Hokage's office in hopes that he would be able to find answers there. After a quick scan to detect if he'd been discovered by the patrolling ANBU, he'd begun to systematically check the piles of reports that were sitting on Tsunade's desk. Neji had been ready to inspect every nook and crane of the office if it was necessary, the fact that this behavior could land him in trial for treason hadn't even crossed his mind.

Two hours later, after countless useless reports and hidden sake bottles, he'd spotted something of promise. With a grunt, he'd pulled a slim, old book out from underneath a dangerously high pile of papers. The cover was made of black leather and there was no title on it. Opening it, he'd been surprised to find pages filled with handwritten notes. By scanning one, he'd learned that this was a mission journal of an undercover operative that had been sent to the Earth country before the war. Her codename: Black Widow.

Aware that Tenten seemed to have some kind of connection to the Oschiro Clan, he'd scanned the pages trying to find a familiar name. When the Oschiro Clan had been mentioned, the flames of his hopes had been fanned and, crouching near the window in an effort to see the words more clearly, he'd continued moving through the pages. Until at last he found what he was looking for, her name glowing like a beacon.

You were the tenth girl born to the clan, the first child to survive after ten years of failed births. You were surrounded by tens, and so, when at last they asked what your name would be, I spoke the only name befitting you.

"Tenten."

He'd read the passage again, making sure it was indeed the name of the woman that had come to mean so much to him. The name stared right back at him and part of him wondered at the implications. Clearing his mind of doubts, he'd made the decision to take the book. So he'd tucked it in his pants, the cover pressed against his lower back, and had left as quietly and swiftly as he'd arrived.

It took him four days to read and digest the journal. By the end, he felt dizzy and angry and frustrated. How could they have hidden all this from Tenten? She had a right to know and he was going to tell her, no questions about that! But first, he needed to know why. Why had they tampered with her past? Why had Gai allowed it? And, most importantly, why was he still –even till this day—obstinate in keeping Tenten in the shadows?

There had to be a bloody good reason for this deceit, and he would not rest until he found out why!

-o0o-

Tenten brushed the remnants of tiredness aside. Years under Gai's training -and adding Lee's peculiar antiques to the mix- had given her the control necessary to keep from bolting out as soon as Sakura had started yapping her mouth. It wasn't that she disliked the medic-nin more than she was a bit envious that she'd gotten Tsunade's personal attention in regards to tutelage without even trying! While Tenten had—

She sighed, shook her head and expulsed the childish thought out of her mind, if not entirely out of her heart. It was to be expected, wasn't it? Tenten wasn't that noteworthy and she'd long since made her peace with that, or so she kept reminding herself whenever something or someone made her feel inadequate.

Disgusted by the thought, she slapped her cheek. Hard. She was sure a red mark was left behind, testament to her punishment for allowing something like this to distract her. This incredibly inane thing was nothing when held besides the bigger picture, and she ought to know that by now. Yet, if she was as unimportant as part of her had always believed, then why would someone care to tamper with her mind?

It just didn't make sense… none at all.

Okay, focus on the now, Tenten. You can do nothing, decide nothing, believe nothing without first getting answers, she reminded herself sternly, forcing a stop to the avalanche of questions and the twister of reproaches.

She cleared her mind and concentrated on the sound, listening as the nurse on guard stepped into her room. She closed her eyes, feigning sleep. The nurse took her sweet time in looking around, checking her chart and doing some other routinely things. Had Tenten not been gifted with patience, she would have ordered her out already. Granted, it was thanks to her team that she'd developed a lifetime of patience, but her pride at earning it did not diminished with the thought.

With eyes closed and even breathing, Tenten waited for the nurse to finish making her rounds before sprinting into action. She was glad she'd snapped out of her coma right after visiting hours had ended, for she doubted she would have been able to otherwise act so soon.

Peering in the direction of the door one more time, and noticing nothing out of the ordinary, she rolled out of the bed, pulling the IV tube out of her arm as she went. The moment her bare feet came into contact with the ground and she straightened, the small room spun sharply, threatening to send her to the floor when her legs became wobbly and unstable. She stood perfectly still for some time, holding onto the nightstand for balance, waiting and pleading to Kami-Sama that the swarming feeling and the horrible nausea that came in its wake would pass before she lost her chance. It did after a while, more slowly than she'd hoped for but providing her with enough time to still make it out before the next nurse came to check up on her.

Whistling softly in relief, she moved toward the closet with tentative steps, testing her strength and wincing at how friggin' cold the floor was against her oversensitive skin. Her mood brightened upon encountering a bag there with a clean outfit inside. She'd been counting on it, but she'd been disappointed in her wishes before. Stripping her gown off, she dressed herself in record time before pushing the window open and soundlessly slipping out.

It was cold, colder than ever before. Or perhaps the lack of energy had prompted her body's defenses to weaken? Whatever the reason was, it had curses rolling off of Tenten's tongue in between grinding teeth. She walked the streets rather than travel through the rooftops, afraid that if her strength failed her, she would end up falling and breaking something that she couldn't afford right now. As it was, she did her best to hurry her pace and stay to the shadows, her eyes darting around, her heart beating fast. If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn she'd crossed into enemy territory. For some reason, part of her didn't find the thought all that strange…

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she reached her destination. Staring her in the face was the entrance to an ominous and silent compound. On the top of the wooden doors, hung the crest of the Uchihas, like a drop of blood amidst the ground. It seemed more than ever before a banner of tragedy as opposed to an object of pride.

"Okay, here goes nothing, I suppose," she told herself, pushing the doors that –under Tsunade's orders, could never be locked—and stepping inside. With some hesitation, which might have come more for fear of wakening the Uchihas' ghosts rather than their avenger, she moved through the countless, empty houses. Just as she was about to turn on the path that would lead her to Sasuke's house, he materialized seemingly out of nowhere.

"What are you doing here, Tenten?" he asked, almost making her jump out of her skin.

Shit! She really was tired if she hadn't even noticed him approaching. Not to say, of course, that his skill wasn't one to behold, but this had been basic stealth and she shouldn't have been caught unawares! Neji would have been greatly disappointed and Gai and Lee would have made her run a thousand laps around the village. Funny, how the thought of the first seemed a more severe punishment.

"Sasuke," she greeted softly. And turning around to face him, she was surprised to be met not with the expected anger at her intrusion but with unbound relief. She wouldn't, naturally, be as ingrate as to complain. In fact, she welcomed it because, as horrible as it sounded, she was already thinking on a way to use his feelings to coerce him into helping her. If she was pushed that far, that is. And though a less cynic part of her hoped she wouldn't, the other welcomed the challenge to try her luck at a silver tongue.

"I'm glad you're alright," he confessed as he approached, the small smile on his face attesting to his genuine sentiments. Tenten felt ashamed of the thoughts her mind was entertaining, but did her best to remain outwardly impassive. "None of us said anything… but I think we were all worried you wouldn't wake up."

Much as she wanted to answer with a beaming smile, Tenten couldn't do more than curl her lips into a smile as strained as it could get. Fact was, she needed him to do something for her that he might not appreciate. Until that was out of the way, she couldn't afford displaying emotions that could jeopardize her plan.

He frowned, she guessed, at being confronted with as cold an expression as it had ever marred her face. Tenten, after all, was known for her candidness towards all people, even traitors such as he'd been. Hell, she was one of the few who'd welcomed him back with an authentic smile and she would not quake at making use of that memory, wrong as it might be to do so.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything," he continued, folding his arms across his chest, "but what are you doing here, Tenten?" His face solidified into a blank expression, his tone returning to his low, signature grimness as he sought to reveal the purpose of her visit.

"I need your help," she admitted, crossing her arms in an effort to keep warm, not wishing to beat around the bush too much else she would lose her courage. She tried to gauge his expression, but he was still a master in concealing his emotions and this day was no exception.

"Anything," he replied with a small shrug, probably thinking it would be a simple matter and thus resolved easily. Tenten wished he would be as fast to comply once she told him exactly what she needed from him. She doubted he would. What she needed, after all, was for him to play the part of Itachi in the dramatic play that her life had become.

Steeling herself, Tenten closed the distance between them until their bodies were almost touching. She saw his back straightening and, unbidden, the memory of when she'd captured his lips came to mind. She remembered he'd stiffened then as well, right before he'd hungrily tried to answer her touch. She hated herself even as she stored that knowledge into her assembled arsenal.

Tenten's unflinching gaze chained those dark orbs of his that seemed to perpetually brood. She allowed a pregnant pause, hoping the closeness would dull his sharp mind enough to make the concealment of his emotions sloppier. If she was to win him over, she needed every advantage she could get. And using her feminine wiles, a thing she'd done only in very few occasions, was not out of the question today.

"Mangekyō Sharingan," she said in a whisper that still managed to sound loud. It could have been because they were isolated from all other life, or maybe it was just what came out that was dreadful enough to render even nature silent. As those two little words, which had probably destroyed his life, no doubt, sunk in, she felt him tense from head to toes. He gave a step back, as if she'd slapped him. But she was quick to grip his arm, afraid that he would bolt before she could finish, "Sasuke… I need you to use it on me."

Maybe it was her strategy, or maybe it was just the absurdity of her request, but his handsome face twisted to display a mixture of anger, confusion and horror all at the same time. He tried to pull away, but she resisted. He was her only chance to know, to truly know who she was! And she would not, could not be denied!

Finding his efforts futile, he did a double take, as if expecting her to laugh at what had to be a joke. But her face was dead serious and that only helped in making anger prevail over all other emotions. With an intensity that baffled her, he took a hold of her shoulders, his fingers digging into her skin despite her clothes. He leaned towards her until their faces were but inches apart and snarled, "Are you bloody mad?"

Tenten was prepared for something like this, and her response came out automatically, "Somehow, for some reason, someone tampered with my memory. Who I was, it is lost to me, and I want –I need the knowledge back!"

"So you come to me!" He shook his head and gave a sarcastic laugh. None too gently, he pushed her away from him.

Tenten abided by his wishes and let go of his arm, but remained close, ready to stop him if he tried to leave before this discussion was settled. His anger, at least, diminished now that he was able to put some distance between them. It was almost as if the distance had given him the power to think past his emotion and initial reaction. Tenten wondered if she should approach him again, before he outmaneuvered her.

"Kami, Tenten!" he sighed softly, tiredly. "If what you said is true—"

"It is," she insisted.

He looked at her and cracked his knuckles absentmindedly. She could see his mind working, trying to gather together his scattered thoughts. Tenten knew it was a mistake to have allowed him to push her away, but she knew it could piss him up more if she tried to intrude into his personal space when he was thinking this hard. But… shit. He was calmer now, much calmer. And that was not particularly in her best interest…

"Tenten, why not just go to Sakura or Tsunade or any other healer and ask them to help you? It seems to me like that is the best course of action. I'm sure that will probably get you better results than coming to me with this… this foolish idea!"

Tenten shook her head, "Don't you think I thought the same? But they can't, Sasuke. I asked Sakura and she said not even Tsunade could undo the bind!"

She saw him shifting uncomfortably. She'd had enough of this! She needed to take back the control that was slowly slipping away from her fingers. So she moved towards him and grabbed him by the front of his white gi, not in a threatening manner, but in desperation.

"My past is buried within my own head, Sasuke! Do you know what that feels? To remember only in blurry nightmares things that are supposed to be monumental to me? The very things that were supposed to act as the base of who I should have been were taken from me!" Her grip tightened and she forced tears into her eyes, though the sadness was real enough. Maybe the tears were too…

Damn. She was too far gone into her plan for her to even distinguish what was true from what wasn't. Maybe it was all true? Or maybe she was enjoying her darker nature. Humans, after all, are said to come from darkness. And she was, like all humans, prone to be corrupted by said darkness. If it wasn't for that, then there would be no killing. And she'd killed. She'd maimed and hurt and killed. And sometimes, when she was in the middle of that violent chaos that was a battle, she'd found herself enjoying it.

"Ten-" Sasuke tried to stop her from speaking further, but she didn't give him the chance and continued undeterred. Baring it all, even if in a manipulating sort of way, for the one chance at assembling the puzzle that was her past, her life.

"Only you, Sasuke," she whispered, pushing him until his back was against a wall and then she pushed some more, so that her body was pressing his. She could feel it all, then. She felt her own body absorbing his warmth, stopping her shivering. Absently, she counted his drumming heartbeats as his shallow breaths fanned across her face. "Only you understand what it is like to have everything taken from you. Except you remember he who did it. You had the power and, more importantly, the information to extract your revenge. To make those that wronged you pay! And someone wronged me, Sasuke, yet I cannot avenge who I was, because the information has been taken from me, just like all the rest!"

Uncomfortable by their closeness, he'd tried to wriggle out of her grasp, but his efforts dwindled as she'd continued, her comments slamming home one after the other. At the end of it, he was silent and unmoving.

Kami! She never knew she could be so ruthless.

"Revenge… will not give you happiness, Tenten, trust me, I know," he argued, his tone soft, his voice trembling, his eyes dark with overwhelming pain. He still wouldn't actively touch her, but she felt his fingers once brush her sides, as if wanting to but knowing better than to give in to his impulses.

Tenten didn't like herself very much, but she couldn't stop. If she'd hurt him, then at least something good might as well come out of this mess.

"I have no wish for happiness," she responded softly, truthfully, looking at him, "I just want closure."

His eyes disappeared under his lids and she was glad for it. She hated seeing what she'd done. He was torn with the decision. She could see it in every line of his face. She could detect it in the way his brow came down, in the way his jaw displayed the pressure of grinding teeth. She could feel it in the tension hugging his body, his every muscle bulging, his extremities shaking with the wave of emotions she'd unleashed.

Tenten let go of his gi and hugged him instead. She wanted to give him comfort, even as she prepared to hurt him more. She was disgusted at herself for toying with his emotions –emotions that he was still working to repair after his desertion. But she told herself she had no other choice. More than that, she was running out of time.

"I was there for you when you came back… I was one of the few to welcome you, to befriend you, to trust you…" She reminded him, hiding her self-loathing under gentleness for this lost, hurting soul.

"I know that," she pretty much tore that acknowledgment out of his throat. It came hoarse and heavy with emotions he was still trying to fight, to understand, to ignore.

"I've never asked you for anything," she said, pulling back to look at his face. His downcast eyes met hers and she finally felt his hands grabbing her arms, fisting on the fabric of her sleeves. The pain in those dark orbs was so intense, it would have staggered her had she not steeled herself for it. Like the master at stealth that she was, she went it, long past his defenses, and cut. "I've never asked anyone for anything… but now I am. I'm asking you to trust me this time. It's the only thing I will ever ask of you."

"I… I… e-even if I wanted to," his stutter voiced his frustration. She was glad to hear the acknowledgment that he was considering, even if it was hypothetically right now. "There are no techniques of the Mangekyō Sharingan that can help!"

"Tsukuyomi," she offered immediately. She'd been doing some thinking of her own on the matter and she was nothing if not inventive. She had to be. It was the only way she'd managed to not fall behind and lose her spot as Neji's official training partner. Once they'd move in rank and team Gai had been broken up, she'd doubled her efforts in order to give Neji at least a good run for his money.

Sasuke tsked and pushed her away callously. She allowed it, giving him some breathing space. He prowled back and forth, like a cage animal thinking of how best to tear up those who'd captured him. If he'd been prone to it, she was sure he would have growled or, at the very least, cursed profanely at her. But he didn't. And if he wished her ill in his mind, he didn't voice it. Apparently, the more she revealed of her grand plan, the less he liked it. She thought he should give her more credit, but knew better than to demand it and push her luck.

"You… You…," his face grew red with boiling rage, "You're more mad than I thought! Do you know nothing, kunoichi! Tsukuyomi is just an illusion technique, not a recover-my-fucking-memory technique!"

She glared at him but dared not do anything more. She was treading on dangerous ground and even a small move in the wrong direction could blow up the entire field she was playing in. She needed to keep her anger in check and her mind on the game.

Remembering Neji's instructions, she schooled her face into a stoic mask. She opened her arms wide. It was both a plea for him to listen as well as a presentation of the infinite possibilities. "Sasuke, when Itachi used it on you, you were made to experience the Uchiha tragedy all over again, weren't you?"

It was a touchy subject as attested by his dark scowl, "That was different. He was there, which is why he was able to reconstruct the illusion. But that was all it was, a carefully, cruelly constructed hell."

"And yet," she pointed out undeterred by the poison in his voice, "it was from your point of view, wasn't it?" That gave him pause. So she continued, "What if, he took what was there and just reconstructed everything based on that?" She paused to let him digest this. "What if, Sasuke, you could use a variation of the Tsukuyomi to… just rattle what's already there? What if you use the power of the sharingan to shove the bind in my memories and, by trapping me into that illusionary world were time becomes abstract, I can re-experience what is lost to me?"

He began shaking his head before she'd finished, as if even considering such a thing was madness. Tenten was losing him and she began to panic. If she couldn't convince him then everything will be lost! And after she'd tasted some of it, some of her past, she couldn't go back to not knowing. She just couldn't! She wouldn't!

The fear weakened her so that she fell to her knees. It hurt how they hit the ground, but the pain seemed unimportant at the moment. Sasuke's head, however, snapped in her direction and she saw concern surfacing in his eyes. Noticing the reaction, she pounced on it. She hated herself. But still she played her part and bowed down to him, pressing her forehead to the back of the hands she'd placed on the cold, dusty floor.

"W-what are you doing?" He was confused and concerned and, by the tremble in his tone, quite shocked.

"I am begging you to help me," Tenten responded, fighting the urge to look at him, to study his reaction. Later, she knew, the guilt will eat at her, but she couldn't afford those sentiments to intervene right now. So she pushed them back. Let them lay siege to her after all was said and done not before!

"Stop that, Tenten!" he snarled, grabbing her by the arms and pulling her up. "You do not know what you are asking!"

"I'm asking you to help me, Sasuke!"

"No! You're asking me to turn you into the very thing that made me miserable! You're asking me to pass onto you the curse that blinded me to what was truly important! You are asking me to help you destroy your own life!" He was shaking with emotions and, to her surprise, she even saw tears brimming in his eyes. It was heart wrenching to see him like this. It was horrible to know she'd brought this forth. And yet… it was necessary.

"How can we destroy something that's a lie?" she asked him.

"Your life isn't a lie," he argued heatedly.

"Isn't it?" she asked, wriggling out of his grip and opening her arms widely as if to introduce the play that was her life. "Who I believed I was is now in question! Why is everyone entitled to their own past, their own revenge save me? How can I forge a future when my past is lost in between fake memories? How can I go on when I do not know who I am? And how can I find who I am, if I don't know anything at all!"

He combed his hair back and hid his eyes behind a hand. He was still torn but she had to seal the deal, anything less would not do. It was all or nothing now. She approached his hunched figure and took his hand, prying it away in order to see his haunted eyes. He truly was handsome and he truly was in pain. But she needed him like she'd never needed anything before. In his hands laid her past and the key to who she was, to who that man –the traitor in the Ochiro house was.

"If you care for me… even if a little bit, then help me," she said, brushing the single tear that escaped his eyes. She cupped his cheek, kissed his hand and begged, "Please, help me. I will never ask for anything again, I swear."

He hung his head but leaned into her touch. "Kami, forgive me…," he whispered in a tone so low, she almost missed it.

He was devastated! She'd destroyed him! She wondered if she would ever be able to tell him that she hated this just as much as he did, maybe even more. And she wondered, most of all, if he would believe her.

"I'll help you," he looked at her, baring the hurt she'd caused tonight, "And I hope, even if I hate you right now for what you've forced, that neither of us come to regret it."

To be Continued…

AN: Wow! Long chapter, huh? Hope you guys enjoy it and, if so, please don't forget to review!