Part 5: First Aid, Second Base, Third Degree (6)

"You… you look different without your hair buns."

Tenten wore a tentative grin at the equally hesitant comment, as the Suna youth seemed to be struggling to find the right words. The star-lit night was now accompanied by a gentle breeze, the clouds having moved away and revealed the presence of the moon, portentous and sinister-looking against its glittering black blanket. Seeing that her two current companions were hovering over the site where Toroi's body was regenerating, she took a few quick steps away from them as she quickly, absent-mindedly, fashioned her shoulder-length hair into a pony-tail, her dark brown hair swishing in the wind as it was being fastened.

The Konoha teen swallowed the lump in her throat as she saw that her fellow peers had left the vicinity back to the base without her; her pal had understandably displayed her hurt and disbelief quite openly and she could hardly blame her for such an austere response. Though she yearned to catch up with Ino and Shikamaru quickly, she knew within her heart that she had no proper explanation for her actions.

Besides, she could not leave the two Sealing Team Corps members alone while they waited for the Edo Tensei zombie's body to be reconstructed – the scattered remains of Toroi's physical form had miraculously formed the lower of his body, with numerous pieces mystically making their way back to the core. Chukichi was nowhere to be detected, although Tenten knew that he had to be somewhere around the area, sneakily awaiting an opportune time to exact vengeance and free his partner-in-crime.

"It's amazing how this …this resurrection works, doesn't it?"

Takuma's voice brought the kunoichi back from her reverie, and she was a little stunned by how close he was standing; a quick glance told her that the other Suna shinobi was still keeping a close watch on Toroi. Tenten managed a weak smile as she returned his gaze; the young man seemed to have aged rapidly since the last time she had seen him, all those hours ago before her uncanny, life-changing experience began with the discovery of the legendary ninja tool. His previously handsome facial features accentuated by his naturally tanned skin were now marred by the haggard look he wore, and he seemed to be carrying a whole world of burden upon his shoulders. His reddened eyes and heavy eye-bags suggested a severe lack of rest, or egregious bouts of crying.

"If only… if only Kimuya could be … resurrected somehow."

It was at this moment that the Tenten felt an eerie sense of alarm as she turned her head slightly to follow Takuma's forlorn gaze – he was now staring wistfully at Toroi's half-body, with his Suna peer glaring back at both of them with a distasteful look on her face while she held her scroll of binding cloth ready. Feeling even more disconcerted by the kunoichi's palpable hostility starkly enhanced by the warm breeze that had picked up its pace, Tenten was just about to turn back to Takuma to enquire more when his following words caught her off-guard.

"That's Akiya. She's Kimuya's sister."

The Konoha Chunin could feel her eyes widen in disbelief and an uncomfortable heat rush to her flushed cheeks. Even though she was standing more than fifty metres away, the girl's resemblance to their fallen comrade suddenly became so vivid. In fact, she had to chide herself for not noticing it earlier – the elongated chin, narrowed slits, perpetual pout and jet-black hair flowing from beneath the standard Suna turban. The fact that Tenten could sense Akiya's unfriendliness from such a distance made her utterly bewildered and very uncomfortable, and she was just wondering if she should go forward to introduce herself, when Takuma's ethereally gentle voice reached her ears again.

"Nunoshibari no Jutsu."

It came as an absolute shock to Konoha's weapons mistress when she found herself caught unawares from behind, the white bale of cloth that Takuma had been holding on to swiftly wrapping itself around her torso, trapping her left arm within its confines while she flailed helplessly with her right as she fell forward. As she hit the rocky ground with a painful jolt, Tenten felt a cold shiver run down her spine as the thought hit her that she could have been taken down by a Zetsu clone that was impersonating as Takuma.

That was when she recalled that a clone would not have been able to activate the Sunagakure Cloth Binding Technique that had now immobolised her.

"Takuma! What in the world are you doing?" Tenten cried out, her quavering voice betraying the fear and astonishment she felt, towards this totally unexpected turn of events. As she spoke, she tried her best to wriggle herself out of her constraints, but her few seconds of exertion were in vain; her left arm and legs were bound securely with the rest of her body and her twin scrolls in her belt holster, which meant that she had no tool to her disposal. She was even more flabbergasted when she heard a peal of laughter coming from afar, and realised that it had to come from…

"Akiya! I've done what you told me to. It's time for your revenge."

Tenten froze as the words registered in her mind. In her painfully awkward position, she was still facing Toroi's regenerating form, and the Suna girl she had hardly had the opportunity to be properly introduced to was now taking slow, deliberate steps towards her. Takuma bent down and showed his wan face, maintaining his calm disposition as his dry, cracked lips formed words again.

"You could have saved him. You could have saved Kimuya. He should not have… he should not have died."

Tenten's mind was already in a whirl, but what was now spouting out of the young man's mouth was muddling her stricken thoughts even more now. It did not help that barely a little more than an hour ago, she had mercilessly cut down the Zetsu clone imposter that had taken Kimuya's form, slitting its throat deftly with a kunai. Even then, the memory of Kimuya's lifeless body plunging into the bloodied waters was already prickling at her conscience, but now, Takuma's painfully serene tone was raising a storm within her, mingling intensely with the rising terror of what was in store for her.

"We… we were both there, Takuma," she blurted out, attempting to exhibit as much conviction as she could. "Kimuya…"

Before she could continue, Takuma sent her head crashing to the ground, his callused hand colliding with her right cheek, the resounding slap echoing in the night air.

"Don't speak his name! Don't you ever speak his name again! He was like my brother and you could have saved him! You let him die! You saved everyone else but you let him die!"

Takuma's feathers were finally ruffled, his previously halcyon demeanour completely replaced by outrage. As he howled into the night, clenching his fists in his frenzied outburst, the tears streamed down his blanched cheeks and his veiny neck as he raised his head to the heavens. When he faced Tenten again, his bloodshot eyes were filled with such vehement hatred that she could hardly believe that she had earlier thought in her naivety that he had actually shown her some form of admiration and interest. The teen girl spat out the coppery blood that had filled her mouth from the vicious blow, her eyes now searching desperately for any sign of Toroi's resurrection having taken completion.

"Takuma, stop this! We need to take care of the task at hand! Akiya, get back to Toroi's body and bind him! Quickly! We can talk later!"

The urgency in Tenten's voice seemed to knock some sense into the Suna male youth; he blinked a few times before looking aghast at the sight of how Toroi's body had almost regenerated completely.

It was too late for him to respond however, as it was at that exact moment that the one named Akiya drove a kunai straight into his back.