Far outside of the shinobi villages, ninja were more feared than respected, more legend than human. They were the folk who frequented dive bars, kept the black markets alive, who drove fear into the hearts of children, who didn't mind sleeping in slums or killing thoughtlessly for profit. Indeed, much like normal shinobi, but without the protection of a village affiliation.
In one such area, a secluded inn at the border of Kawa no Kuni, there was one necessity that kept the economy of assassins quite wealthy: information. Because of its location, the area was awash with a good deal of travelling shinobi, which made the information passing quite advantageous.
"What can you tell me about the Akatsuki's latest endeavors?"
The bartender being questioned only stared back at him. She wore no hitai-ate, and sported an enormous sword at her hip. With the exception of a scar stretching across her neck, she was rather unremarkable looking, more like another bounty hunter than a fellow shinobi. But dark eyes shone with intellect, and she eyed the passerby with wry suspicion. He was one of the only patrons in the bar, except for a quiet woman sitting in the back, sipping a glass of beer that probably tasted very similar to dog piss.
"Why do you want information about that group?" A thick brow raised. "Trying for an interview?"
Her half-hearted, unfunny comment left Baki only staring back at her, his expression telling her exactly what he thought of her joking. Bartenders in true villages could waste time tip-seeking, but he was here for more than the shot of alcohol that he had no intention of actually drinking.
His identity was well hidden, and his affiliation with Suna and the Kazekage was hidden in a scroll tied tightly within his knapsack. The bounty hunters were waiting several miles away at the rendezvous point, having stopped at other inns and motels and hostels along the roadsides.
"I'm not that good. But… I'm better at playing outside the spotlight, anyhow." Baki grunted back, wondering if it were even worth it to play this role. But Temari had asked him, and there was not a single individual he respected more than Temari. Not even the Kazekage. Though she was many years his junior, the young woman had never been anything but a political power player, with more skill and tact than anyone else. Temari of the Sand was a woman who never disappointed those who were relying on her, and Baki always made his best effort to repay her with the same efforts.
She nodded her approval at him. "Nobody knows much about their plans, but it's said that they have a captive… an ex-Leaf shinobi. It may have something to do with Uchiha Itachi; he's the only connection they have to Konohagakure anyway."
Baki turned away, disappointed by the gold that he'd left at her dirty bar - the bar mop lying a few feet away was much cleaner than the old, warped wood – she'd offered him no new information, only speculation. And she was not dangerous, either. This had been useless and a little embarrassing. He hated undercover positions like this. They shamed him. He was a well-respected member of the community, and here he was, hiding like a snake in the grass.
"Wait!" she called, as he turned away.
Obeying, he listened carefully. As she weighed the gold, she met his eyes, turned so to catch her just in his peripherals. "They say that it's the latest missing-nin, from Konoha. Uzumaki Tenten: she was in the latest Bingo Book. She's being called the Weapon's Mistress, and it's rumored she's one of the greatest assassins in the world, even though she's not even sixteen yet."
Still nothing new. But before he could give up on this woman, she added: "It's rumored they want her to join their ranks. It wouldn't be the first time they've adopted pups. Uchiha Itachi was just a boy, as well as Akasuna no Sasori… and now even Uchiha Sasuke."
Baki fled without thanking her, leaving behind a woman who was now rich with gold stamped by the Kazekage's seal. It was reserve money, fattened by some of Baki's own savings.
He would not disappoint Temari.
x
"Tell them we must drive them from the city and then retreat." Nagato ordered quietly, watching from the window at the bloodshed beneath them.
Zetsu nodded at the command, disappearing slinkily into the shadows. His presence was always eerie, though Konan had grown used to him over the years.
Konan stared at him, bound as he was, and he met her eyes levelly. "But Nagato, this is our chance at getting the kyuubi."
It was not disobedience to say so. She would follow his order, trust him. He was her leader, her only friend in the world, and the man that shared her dreams of the future, her nightmares from the past… and the desolate present.
"No. Deidara has been cut off. I can feel it." Nagato spoke with surety, but no grief. The boy was a means to an end, but there was no love lost between any members of this organization. Nagato had never met the majority of members face to face. He spoke only through Pein. "Likely, he's dead. He left with the jinchuuriki bait and it's likely they were followed. Itachi is in no state to be in battle right now, and Sasuke has lost his head. I must stop this unnecessary fighting. It does not serve our purposes any longer." Nagato's voice was harsh and deep, weary. To anyone other than Konan, seeing this exhausted, dying man as the mastermind of world domination would be strange. But his voice carried authority, a burden he was long used to, and held respect for the woman beside him as he did for not a single other soul.
"We've taken a beating, lately…" Konan voiced the thought that had been troubling her lately. "With Sasori dead… now Deidara… and the tension between the Uchihas sparking as it is… I should go put a stop to it." Though the idea of separating fully grown shinobi as though they were children galled her, Konan knew that babysitting the brothers was the only way to keep them alive. Even she was unable to guess who would win an altercation like that. And at this point, it would only cause more structural damage to the city.
"War is hell," a deep voice echoed. She did not bother to look behind her. 'Tobi' was there, observing and agreeing. "This is not a situation in which we are likely to exit with the kyuubi, though it seems like a wasted opportunity. I will complete the duty, if you like, Konan."
Though the masked man had always been somewhat of a mystery to the Akatsuki, Konan accepted his offer with grace. "I would appreciate it, but there is no need."
He disappeared in response, and Konan only turned back to Nagato, not bothering to wonder about the masked man's true intentions. "This has become quite a mess. Perhaps we should take a breather from collecting the demons and focus on regrouping."
"I agree," Nagato said, indifferent to the battles occurring in his front yard. "Once this situation is behind us, we can send out the groups to different villages to scout potential members."
"Perhaps they have some suggestions already," Konan mused aloud, thinking back to the most recently published Bingo Book.
Kisame was the most likely member to do so. His penchant for drinking and socializing meant that the Akatsuki left gossip and gathered information stunningly well. She'd wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen him in action. It was difficult to imagine an enormous, blue, fishman as an expert manipulator and womanizer, but certain skills were inherent to some… which was what made him such a good partner for the agonizingly awkward, if handsome, Itachi. Both the pairings and the shinobi were chosen with care, and Kisame understood the delicate symbiosis of their group better than most.
x
Sai noticed the shouting young man, so opposite in appearance and temperament to him, and decided he would give him what he came for. He seemed to want to fight one of the Akatsuki, and had come in with two Leaf-nin, which in Sai's estimation, made him an ally. His white hair and tan skin made him the aesthetic opposite of Sai himself, and Sai liked that. He certainly was not particularly conventionally handsome, the way Sai knew himself to be, but that did not bother him. The intricacies of social mandates surrounding physical beauty had always been of no importance to his ROOT training, and therefore it did not occur to Sai to truly care, unless it was for the purposes of conversation.
He still had one of Tenten's scrolls, which had not been damaged in the explosion that had separated him from her and Shisui. Keeping in mind the boy's face, he swore to assist him in any way should they meet face to face.
But as he was doing so, a stray attack from one of Kakuzu's masks distracted him, and Suigetsu's plight was forgotten.
x
There were many things about Aburame Shino that were unknown to even those closest to him. So when he was drained of chakra, nearly finished his fight, and saw Hoshigaki Kisame aiming his great sword directly at Inuzuka Hana, it was not a logical action for Shino to take the blow.
Indeed, Shino rarely fought with his own fists. His kekkei genkai enabled that. It wasn't that he did not maintain peak physical condition – it was that it was usually in his best interests to fight from afar. He was not the type to self-sacrifice, being far too logical and unemotional. Or so he told himself.
It was a gruesome death. Kisame's Samehada quite literally tore him in half, from right shoulder to the middle of his chest, sucking out his chakra and destroying his beloved kikai bugs as it went.
However, Inuzuka Tsume would've understood, if only she were there. The closeness that permeated Team Kurenai was not commonly known, considering that three of the four members were extremely gentle, collected individuals. Team dinners were often held at the Inuzuka household, and it did not take long for the younger Shino to develop rather unlikely feelings towards Kiba's older sister. Kurenai had also noticed Shino's uncharacteristic friendliness towards the older girl, and Hinata was very familiar with the signs of infatuation, though she'd never breathe a word of it to anyone, including Shino.
However, all that Hana knew was that her brother's teammate was dead before her. No final words, no romantic confessions, no pause from battle. Nothing but a sacrifice that she didn't understand and a brief respite from the enormous, blue-skinned man before her. Pulling his sword away as it chewed at the chakra ebbing from Shino's lifeless body.
"Yosh!"
Both Kisame and Hana turned at that, her ninkin sniffing the air, amazed and a little flabbergasted at the strange and sudden appearance of "Maito Gai?" Hana blinked at him, running towards them madly, a frantic dash that left his legs a green blur.
Kisame shrugged good-naturedly, the body of the dead boy between them forgotten for a thoughtless moment.
"Youth will prevail!" Gai screamed, stopping just before Shino's body, Sakura and a boy she'd never seen before trapped beneath his muscular arms. "I will avenge this boy! Kurenai! I will make sure Aburame Shino's loss is not meaningless!"
Suigetsu and Kisame gaped at one another for a moment, Gai's screaming forgotten, the body of a young man not even on their radar. Hana tensed, wondering what was happening, her body language asking the Haimaru Brothers to pause as well. The rain poured down, blinding her a little, but still she watched, her nose and her ears alert for the slightest change in chakra tension.
"Well if it isn't a little Hozuki," Kisame grinned, showing teeth shaped exactly like the white-haired boy's. Eerie that they mirrored one another so well, despite their opposite appearances. The apple did not fall far from the tree, and the pebble did not stray far from the stream.
"I didn't come here for you, but I'm not against a beat down," Suigetsu licked his lips. The chakra levels in Hana's immediate area spiked.
However, before they could begin, a strange creature sprouted from the ground.
Hana gaped as an enormous flower bloomed, blossoming to reveal a strange man within the center, striped black and white. His mouth did not seem to move, and the sheet of rain that protected him from Hana's sharp vision made him seem even more frightening. He moved like an angel of death, but spoke words that most likely saved her life.
"Call off the battle, Kisame." "You can bring this toy."
Before she could even react, Kisame bellowed, gathering the attention of Kakuzu, and Hidan. Itachi and Deidara were out of sight, though Hana did not know that, since the names of all the Akatsuki were difficult for her to memorize. "Take cover!"
His voice echoed around the empty space around the Akatsuki compound, the dilapidated buildings, through the rain and the eerie quietness of the city.
As quickly as they'd come, they slunk into the shadows, including Suigetsu, leaving only the strange plant-man. Rapidly, vines began to come from him, from the soil and breaking through the concrete.
"We will settle our business another day." "Leave, or die."
"Scatter, now!" Kakashi shouted, a note of panic entering his voice, making it harsh.
They obeyed. Gai, Sakura, Sai, Genma, Hana, Jiraiya, Yamato. But no Naruto. No Tenten. Itachi and Sasuke were nowhere to be seen, and Naruto had followed Tenten and Deidara.
Shino's body was left in the rain, his hood fallen down, the red water draining into the advanced sewage system of Amegakure. His glasses lay broken beside him, with pieces of glass embedded in Hoshigaki Kisame's boot.
x
Sasuke's rage had exhausted him. He panted, resting against the battered structure of a once sturdy building, feeling his blood throbbing.
He hadn't been skilled enough to kill Itachi. Shisui kept interrupting his attacks, distracting him, tampering with his movements, dislocating his aim. Clenching a hand that felt broken, Sasuke stared blankly at the distant, clear sky, wondering what the natural landscape of this kami forsaken village looked like.
Akatsuki was a means to an end. He could care less if they killed Naruto. His only goal was Itachi.
A small twinge within him told him that he was lying, that he was the same kind of self-denying bastard that Shisui and Itachi were, that he was simply trying to convince himself – but he shoved that away.
The attack that should've killed Itachi had hit Shisui. While Sasuke didn't really care either way if Shisui wanted to get himself impaled, his automatic reaction to needless death had him retracting some of his chakra. Itachi had gone flying in an ungraceful, slumped manner that left Sasuke far more satisfied than it should've. Finally, the fucker had lost his infuriating composure.
Zetsu had appeared, taking away an unconscious Shisui. Now it was just Sasuke. He should find the others – Pein wanted him to cooperate with them, after all. Though Deidara wasn't much more than a hotheaded idiot, Sasuke thought that it was in his best interests to comply. Staying under the protection of the Akatsuki was beneficial to his own purposes.
A throb of chakra, all too familiar, jolted him into a standing position. He knew that signature. He knew it as well as Itachi's, as well as his own, as well as Kakashi's.
Sasuke streaked towards it, running, ignoring everything else, including the pink-haired medic that ran in the opposite direction, in full sight. Everything was lost to him in that moment. Even Itachi's unconscious form, waiting for a final blow, was forgotten.
"Naruto," Sasuke tch'd to himself, trying to quell his excitement. He was no longer a boy. The instant he'd left the village, he'd become a man, in control of his destiny. He would kill Itachi. And he didn't care if Naruto needed to die for him to accomplish his goal.
He didn't want to be like Itachi, but sometimes Sasuke wondered if all of his problems would be solved if he could just work up the desire to kill the hyperactive genin.
A memory burbled to the surface of his mind. Chapped lips, the slightest rub of stubble, the taste of blood and the crust of dirt, the scent of… ramen.
Even Sasuke's exhaustion could not completely calm the red flush on his neck, hidden by his high collar.
x
Tobi stood some distance away from the laughing siblings, noting Deidara's almost easy defeat. The kunoichi had been in her element. While her earlier capture had been from an aerial bomb on an unsuspecting, distracted girl, this had been a woman's revenge on the man she channeled all of her hate into.
So quickly had she reverted from deadly assassin into giggling child. Tobi's visible eye narrowed as he watched her.
It was impossible. He dismissed the thought on principle. But as he watched her, he imagined her as she would've been with her hair neatly cropped, with brown eyes. Her bone structure was eerily similar to… he ignored the thought, harder.
Pein and Zetsu had sent the Konoha shinobi out of Ame.
Including Kakashi.
His rage boiled at the thought, with the Kyuubi and her, laughing as if there were no danger, as if they were not but scant miles from Pein's reach.
This would be the perfect time to capture the jinchuuriki. Switching his Sharingan on, he eyed them. One with enormous leakage and fluctuation, and she, with… controlled would not be the correct word. As she moved, he could see the strange holes in her chakra network. Not holes… limiters.
She was a chakra vessel. With interest, he mulled over the possibilities . He could use her in order to extract the demon spirits without killing prey. As an Akatsuki member, she would comfort herself as a life-saver, be near her, observe her.
All he had to do was convince her.
x
"Where's Naruto?" Sakura demanded, while at the same time, Gai shouted: "Where is the battle?" and Tenzou , alarmed, asked: "Where is Shino?"
Genma only eyed Kakashi sourly.
"We must leave the village first."
"Where's Sai?" Jiraiya asked, but his voice was more subdued.
Genma did not know much about Jiraiya, or why he seemed so upset, but he only shrugged. "Tenten went that way. Are we gonna go after her, captain?"
It wasn't contempt in his voice, but regret. He'd watched her go. He'd let her.
"Gai, Jiraiya…."
"Sai," Sai supplied.
"The three of you return to our camp. Hana, show them the way."
"I cannot."
"Excuse me?" Kakashi blinked, his Sharingan visible, forehead protector nudged upwards. Sniffing the boy out, Kakashi stared at him. He smelled like Tenten.
"I have something Tenten will need."
"Then let's go," Genma said, staring at Kakashi, waiting for him to move, twitching as if he were going to lose his composure if they did not move.
The gray-haired shinobi nodded, and Genma, Sakura, Sai, and Kakashi left, Tenzou leading them after Naruto.
x
Obito alighted in front of Naruto and Tenten.
"Who the hell are you?" Naruto demanded ferociously, looking exactly like the fox that resided within him, his teeth sharp and his eyes slits. Tenten, looking more like a starving child than a fierce kunoichi, eyed him levelly.
He was unsurprised by her focus on him. She'd known from the day she'd come across him that he was more than the idiot he played at being. He hid his aura well, and amongst men like those in the Akatsuki, who chose not to see it, it was easy to disguise. But she was alert, always, and had a perception that matched his own. It was not natural born cleverness – she'd learned to be aware of what was happening around her. She was wary like prey should be.
"I've come for you," he said, and Tenten instinctively moved in between him and Naruto. Feeling a grin curl beneath his mask, he shook his head. "Not him."
Naruto yanked her back fiercely, sending her stumbling a little. "Get away from her, you asshole!" he snapped. "You can't have her back! I'll kill you first!"
"See if you can," he invited.
"Don't," Tenten hissed at him. "He's more dangerous than he seems. You can feel his killing intent, can't you? It's radiating off of him."
"I couldn't care less!" Naruto growled. "I don't care if I have to fight freaking Baa-chan! You're staying with me!"
"Naruto!"
Obito and Tenten both rolled their eyes the second they heard the cry.
The youngest child of Fugaku skidded several yards away.
"Sasuke," Naruto breathed.
Before he could halt, Tenten was already headed towards him, snatching at the sword he kept at his side.
"Touch any of them and I'll kill you," she warned him.
Sasuke looked a mess, bloodied and exhausted, with shadows beneath his eyes and bruises forming on his sallow skin. He only eyed Tenten balefully, as if insulted by her words, completely unbothered by her manhandling.
"Sasuke is with Akatsuki. I have no fight with him. Nor with the kyuubi – yet. I simply mean to reclaim you, Uzumaki Tenten."
Naruto and Sasuke were in a world of their own, staring at one another, as different as night and day, but their chakra burning with the same intensity, as if they could not decide whether or not to attack, burning with youth and furor.
The intensity of the situation was almost too much for Tenten. She sighed. "If the two of you need some space, go fucking do it."
"Nee-chan, I'm not gonna-"
"Listen," she turned around to face him, fully in lecture mode. "I don't care if the two of you run off to fight or to get married or do both, but I really don't want to sit around and try to sift out the difference between Sasuke's killing intent and the raging sexual tension."
Both boys went fully red, chakra levels falling, distracted by their embarrassment, and Obito grinned, fully enjoying himself. It was a strange feeling of normalcy. Like something that could've happened to him, long ago, when he was still a person, a boy with a teacher and a family and a girl he wanted to love him. Though he would never admit it to himself, as he stifled the thought, he could imagine Kakashi saying the exact thing to him.
In the distance though, he felt it.
Hatake Kakashi's intense chakra flying towards him.
Rage exploded within him and his killing intent skyrocketed. Launching forward into a run, he gripped Tenten and headed towards Kakashi.
Indeed, the plan would be much easier if Kakashi was dead. He'd always been an absurdly large thorn in the side of Akatsuki. The fact that he was the one who had trained Tenten, Sasuke, and the kyuubi meant next to nothing now.
Tobi simply wanted him dead. It had nothing to do with Obito.
He did not have the time or the resources to revive Madara yet, but that plan was not relevant at this time. The only thing he could think of was killing Kakashi. If Kakashi were dead, he'd have an easier time convincing Tenten to assist Akatsuki – the kyuubi would lose one of his most important protectors. Additionally, with her assistance, the ichibi extraction would be much easier
Tenten did not fight him as he yanked her up and over his shoulders, only staring at him.
Obito, focused on Kakashi, did not realize the gentleness in which he handled her, despite paying her no attention. In that moment, she was not a threat to him, which was mildly insulting, but she watched him anyway, fascinated.
It was with ease that she sent the last of Naruto's chakra through her fist and cracked the mask off of his face, not even harming him.
The shattered pieces of the bright orange mask, so similar in color to Naruto's jumpsuit, went flying off of his face as Tenten went stumbling out of his arms and Team Kakashi stopped before them.
"Naruto and Sasuke are back there," she said weakly, spitting out dust and dirt, feeling it dry her mouth out. There hadn't been a time in the past weeks that she hadn't been dehydrated, and with her chakra ready and her adrenaline up, she felt it more than ever. She felt like a raisin.
A man in a helmet continued running past them, not even caring about her, and Sakura followed, sending a meaningful gaze towards Tenten. She shamefully avoided eye contact, and swore to herself that if she ever saw Sakura again, on equal ground, she'd apologize a dozen times over for all the pain she must've caused the girl over the months of their friendship.
Genma and Kakashi only watched her, pitifully sitting on the ground, open to any attack. Shame burned her cheeks, and she avoided their eyes for a moment, summoning her courage.
Looking up, chin out, she met Genma's eyes first, feeling like that would be the safer option. Not that it would do much good, with her failing vision, but she focused on him, meeting his gaze intently.
His eyes were kind, filled with fondness. "Hey, kouhai," he almost whispered, half a smile, senbon in place. She recognized it immediately – it was one she'd made for him.
"Hey, senpai," she answered back, feeling a lump of self-hatred burning her cheeks. But before she could meet Kakashi's eyes, a small figure stepped out from behind Genma.
"Sai?" she dropped her mouth. "Holy hell."
"Greetings, Buns," Sai acknowledged. "I have brought you something you seem to have carelessly forgotten."
Tossing a scroll at her, Sai sent her a smile that was more tooth than feeling, but Tenten was too stunned to even make a grab for it. Was that a joke? She wished Shisui could've heard that. She felt like a proud parent. An image of her and Shisui standing together, watching Sai drawing dutifully, flashed in her mind, and she tried to bite back a smile.
In another life, Tenten had a habit of rambling when anxious. And now she couldn't keep her wits about her. Taking the scroll, she studied it for a second, before grinning.
This was her weapons scroll. Her heart stopped. She'd put some of her most prized possessions under this seal.
She looked up at Kakashi – who was not looking at her. Instead, he stared in awe at the man before him. Genma hovered near him, as if to catch him in a faint. Sai stood, looking slightly bored and confused. But Tenten could not peel her eyes away from Kakashi's intensity.
"What's your motive? You ned the kyuubi, why do you need Tenten?"
"After I kill you," Tobi said casually, "Everything will be easier."
"What?" Tenten stared at him, confused, his face half-hidden in the shadow of his Akatsuki hood.
Genma only tensed. "Kakashi…"
"Because you killed Rin, Kakashi." Tobi's low voice menaced as he ripped back his hood, his already scarred face distorted, his neck bulging with the veins that ran just beneath his skin. "So I suppose it is partly revenge, although the entire extraction process will be easier without your interference."
"No fucking way," Genma breathed, staring at Tobi. "There's no fucking way… Kakashi, tell me it's not."
Kakashi's pupils dilated.
Tenten felt her heart drop into her stomach. She couldn't tell if the adrenaline were numbing her pain or if it was all in her head.
Nohara Rin. Her aunt. Kakashi's heavy heart.
And Tobi looked almost frighteningly similar to Shisui, an Uchiha. But it couldn't be. The story Kakashi had so briefly told her…
"And now I know exactly who you are, Uzumaki Tenten-chan," Tobi's voice was suddenly low again, behind Tenten, his large hand wrapped around her neck, millimeters from choking her, his calloused palm strange and inhuman against the sensitive skin of her neck. Air was suddenly precious, and she tried to control her breathing, her heart beating rapidly. His body was hard and warm beneath his robe and she wondered if he was even bleeding. "I've been watching you."
Fucking creep, she wanted to gripe, but her fury was lost in lack of air and the sudden slackening of Kakashi's body. Genma only gaped, seemingly as shocked as Kakashi.
It was strange to see a sensei in such a vulnerable position. Teachers were always supposed to be the ones in control. After Gai's meltdown, she supposed she should be used to it. But that had been grief she understood. The loss of Rock Lee was something she wondered if maybe she'd never get over. Hyuuga Neji's death was definitely something that had marked her. But the vision of Hatake Kakashi bowing from weariness burned into her eyes.
She could not see fully – her vision was failing more and more quickly. But even his chakra flow changed as he stared at her.
Broad shoulders caved in a little, bringing his stature down. Tobi was a hair or two taller than him, she could tell. Her temple was partially pressed into his bicep – the height that Shisui could've been, if he had not died all those years ago, lost years of growth.
"Ever since our little friend Deidara brought you back, I've known." His voice was low in her ear, causing her to shiver with fear. This was a man with fury that was hardly leashed. The easy façade of Tobi had long since vanished. Arching her back away from him, disgusted by his proximity and a little terrified, she felt his body twitch with the power it held, both in muscle mass and unadulterated chakra intensity, as if he understood her unconscious insult. "I'll kill you, Kakashi." His voice was once again smooth and controlled. "I'll kill your teammates, and I'll take both Uzumaki children. Akatsuki's goal is not yet recognized."
The shock of white hair that had always defied gravity was matted down, damp with grease and rain and travel. They were all filthy, none of them composed. So she damned herself.
"Kill him, now!" she screamed at Kakashi, summoning all of her strength and forcing all of her weight back into Tobi – no, Obito - with all of her rage and her pain and her fear loosened in a screech she surely summoned from hell.
The unexpectedness of a woman physically attacking him without chakra was startling. He reacted with more of a composure loss than anything else, and stepped backwards the slightest bit – enough to tighten his grip against her neck to keep her from bolting away.
Taking her opportunity, Tenten twisted her legs around his and gripped his forearm tightly.
She saw it happen. It felt like minutes that she watched him, but the change was instanteous.
Panic. Wavering. Shame. Fear. Guilt. Regret. Sorrow.
The expressions flashed in Kakashi's visible eyes as he ran towards the her, towards Obito, the chidori lit and screaming, and in less than a second after her scream had torn her throat apart, the chidori was tearing apart her abdomen.
For an instant, it was perhaps the most agonizing experience she could've imagined. Her body shook with the electricity – her hair and skin fried – her stomach was ripped open and her innards churned. She vomited blood across Obito's arm.
Obito grunted too, but in a second Tenten's vision went black.
x
Great shoulders bulged from a too-tight green jumpsuit. Each vertebrae was visible beneath the material, beginning to soak in sweat.
"Do you think he'll get to ten thousand anytime soon?" Hyuuga Neji asked bitingly, just loud enough for Lee to hear.
"I already finished!" Lee protested, hopping up.
Puberty had treated him well. His body naturally had a lean, supple grace, and he held himself with pride. His height only added to his leonine frame, though the outfit left a little to be desired.
"Come on, Tenten!" Lee grinned at her. "Are you ready to spar with the great Rock Lee?"
"How are you acting like everything is normal?" Tenten asked, bewildered, staring at Lee. He towered over her. The word handsome did not suit him, but the sunny smile and trusting eyes sent a pang through her heart so painful that she fell to her knees. She hadn't even realized she was standing.
"Tenten! Are you alright?" Neji was immediately by her side. She hadn't even felt him move, and suddenly he held her elbow, supporting her.
Looking up at him, she nearly fell over again.
Two beautiful, whole eyes, gray-white-blue, as depthless as the ocean and shining like the full moon. Hyuuga Neji, fully grown and perfect.
The facial features that had promised to be elegant were stunning. Dark brown hair swung from a neatly tied braid that swung against her back as he supported her. The concern written across his face caused her to blush a little.
"What's wrong?" he asked, voice smooth and silky and deep. Everything young Neji had promised to be – blooming before her.
She was unable to look at him. It was too painful. Still, focusing on Lee struck her. "Kami, Lee," she began to weep, shuddering sobs that she had no control over. Tears streaked down her cheeks, and she realized for the first time that she had full vision.
"Lee," she urged. "What color are my eyes?"
Blinking, the poetic boy launched into song about her deep brown eyes, the steely flecks that littered their depths, and her eyelashes, long as the borders of Konoha. She tuned him out, touching the tears on her cheeks. Wet. Real. Tasting them, she met Neji's gaze again, her fingers in her mouth. Salty.
Neji was staring at her though, as Lee began to cry himself, at the beauty of her 'dewy eyes, shining so with happy tears of youth'. "Something is wrong with you," he observed quietly, as Lee went into throes of friendship.
She didn't want to deny it, but she was unsure. It felt strangely as though she had something to do. But already the feeling of fear was receding, being replaced by a happy contentedness as Neji continued to support her and Lee practically pirouetted before them.
"I'm fine," she said breezily, internally surprised by her own words. Had she meant to say that? It was if somebody else was controlling her body now, but strangely… her reactions felt familiar. As if it were what she meant to do, but had forgotten. Muscle memory, but with her mind. Automaticity. "Let's go, we have to meet Gai soon anyway."
How had she known that? She couldn't recall.
At the same time, why shouldn't she know that? Her head began to pound and she felt herself stumbling as she tried to straighten, a sudden stabbing pain in her abdomen. She cried out in surprise at the agony of it.
"Tenten!" Neji's eyes were narrowed in… suspicion? No, that wasn't it. Concern. "Compose yourself."
That, at least, felt right, if nothing else did.
"Lee," she gasped, feeling Neji's grip around her tighten, as he held both her arms. It felt strange and comforting to be supported, and she blushed a little, and then blushed at her own blushing. Was she a schoolgirl? A silly genin, still full of dreams?
"Tenten," Lee cried, bounding over. "Are you ill? We can postpone your promotion ceremony!"
"Promotion ceremony?" she asked, confused, throwing her head back and biting her lip until she drew blood, trying to control the pain. Everything seemed too shiny, too hard, suddenly, and it hurt her eyes. Her eyes that could see the minute details of the leaves in front of them. Leaves...
"Your jounin promotion ceremony?" Neji reminded her pointedly. "The surprise you begged Lee to ruin for you just a few hours ago? The surprise Lee ruined with his enormous mouth just a few hours ago?"
"She is pretending so that Gai-sensei will not punish me for my weak will!" Lee wept with gratitude, sitting at her knees.
They both stared at her. The only thing that seemed real were their eyes. The open roundness of Lee's, how he was so quick to show his love and affection, how he was kneeling before her as she slowly began to convulse. Neji's, scolding slightly, but narrowed in worry.
"Kami, it hurts!" she cried out, feeling like a child. "Where's Naruto! Neji!" she began to panic. "Where the fuck is Naruto?"
They both looked surprised at her language. "At your surprise ceremony, Tenten," Neji reminded her gently, his voice suddenly low.
The panic wouldn't be contained though, and she began to push at them, clawing them away. "No," she shook her head rapidly, and suddenly raised a hand to her hair.
Twin buns. Soft and shining. Feeling her chest, she felt no scar. Her calf was the same. The only thing that remained were the same scars on her fingertips, the callouses on her thumbs.
"It's not real," she understood suddenly, and the eerie calm that followed was almost more terrifying than her prior panicking.
The hard shine stopped. Everything went silent. She could feel nothing but Neji's long, elegant fingers resting comfortably on the dip of her waist, see nothing but Lee's gentle, worried smile… and think of nothing but Naruto.
He was not at her imaginary jounin ceremony. Because he was standing on the dirty earth outside of the city limits of Amegakure, and she was dying in the earth, soon to join Lee and Neji.
Was that what this was? The afterlife? Was she finally dead?
How could she protect Naruto if she were dead? How could she protect anyone?