Chapter Two: The Invitation
The next few days were the same old, same old.
Which was kind of a relief, having returned from all their adventures unharmed. Tenten had gotten a whole series of D ranks. They also got paid a lot more for doing odd jobs they'd been acing easily. Pretty soon, she was a heck of a lot richer.
Of course, Itachi-sensei did have a tendency to add cruel twists to help their training in other ways. Subtle genjutsus would mess with their balance or irritate their skin. But other than that, things had been going great.
"Dear Master Panda," wrote Tenten in a letter. "Great news! I've finally made Genin!
"I was wondering if you could tell me anything about how you ended up find to me. A samurai named Suzaku claimed that he gave me to you out of pledge after taking down two Leaf Ninja. Any idea if that's true or not?"
The letter was written and sent. Then Tenten made her way to their usual meeting ground and found Neji sopping wet. Tenten blinked. "Neji, you're back uh... why are you wet?"
"I've been trying to master Kaiten on the water," said Neji.
"Ah, right," said Tenten before noticing Lee appearing before her. "Lee... you're wearing black."
"Yes," said Lee. "I have been focusing on remaining unseen in my operations. Guy-sensei has also been giving me some help on the side. With Itachi-sensei's permission, of course."
"Oh really, what kind of help?" asked Tenten.
Lee pulled up his pant leg to reveal what he was talking about. Tenten blinked. "Leg weights?
"Nice."
"So, what have you been up to, Tenten?" asked Rock Lee.
"Oh, me?" asked Tenten. "I've been trying to check the records to see if I could verify Suzaku's story. I've also been drafting a letter to send to Master Panda to confirm."
And then Itachi-sensei arrived.
He walked before them carefully and turned to each of them. "Today, you will be given the assignment of painting a fence. The time allotted is the rest of today. However, since you already have ample experience with that kind of odd job, I will be expecting it done in one hour.
"Demonstrate the same level of discipline you did during your academy years."
"Yes, sensei!" All three said in unison.
They began painting the fence in question. He did it with efficient, well-practiced strokes. As they did, Tenten thought this all used to be so much harder a long time ago. Except it had really only been a few months.
Itachi walked before them thoughtfully. "Excellent work so far.
"At this rate, you will finish well ahead of schedule. As a result, I will be making it harder."
Then Itachi raised a finger.
Instantly, Tenten felt a sense of irritation on her skin. Rubbing it, she found it would not go away and got worse. "What is this, sensei?"
"This genjutsu will cause constant irritation to you until I remove it," said Itachi. "You are to do the job under these circumstances. Focus your attention on your task and ignore any distractions. Once you are finished, I will allow you to try and remove it."
Tenten nodded and saw Neji and Lee do the same. As one, they began to work as painting the fences little by little. The irritation sensation wasn't much interference; you could lock it out. But it made focusing more difficult.
Eventually, they finished.
As they did, they all used the genjutsu breaker. It was a bit more difficult this time, but they'd learned to block out the power. So they could destroy the genjutsu with a fair bit of ease.
"Once again, you continue to surpass expectations," said Itachi. "However, you cannot expect to be handed success. Success is achieved through the constant pursuit of excellence. It is a state of being to be attained, not a prize to be won.
"As such, I have other work for you to achieve."
"Yes, sensei!" They said in unison.
Picking up little was the next job. This time Itachi put them under a genjutsu which blurred what they focused on. Instead of focusing, they had to detach their vision and sort of see everything equally. Neji had an easy time with this; of course, he was used to looking in every possible direction.
However, Tenten found it hard. She was used to focusing completely on a given thing.
"Hey, Itachi!" said a voice.
Tenten looked up and saw a dark-haired girl glomp Itachi-sensei. He did not respond at all, and she stood up. "Izumi, you're here then," said Itachi.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" asked Neji, eyes narrowing.
Probably a member of the Uchiha Clan, given how Tenten was feeling like she was the greatest thing ever. Why did she get this feeling with these people? They hadn't done anything to warrant it. The only exception was Itachi, and Tenten didn't get that feeling around him.
"So these are them, huh?" asked Izumi, looking at them in turn. "Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee, and I guess that makes you Tenten, huh?"
"Yes, have we met?" asked Tenten.
Izumi smiled. "No.
"I'm Izumi; I guess you could say I'm Itachi's girlfriend."
Tenten blinked. Itachi-sensei had a girlfriend? He barely comprehended the existence of human emotions. How the hell did he manage to romance someone? "Oh, really."
"Yeah, I kind of get the feeling that we'll be seeing a lot more of eachother," said Izumi.
It was a superficial relationship where the girl projected her feelings onto a guy, wasn't it? Basically, like Sakura and Sasuke, except this girl was an Uchiha, so they were related. Gross.
"Izumi," said Itachi. Tenten got back to work.
"Oh right," said Izumi. "Well, this isn't just a social call, Itachi. It's about that discussion we had earlier, about what your father wanted. The answer is yes."
"Yes, he has decided in favor of the idea?" asked Itachi, voice guarded. "Or yes, you are okay with it?" What was this all about? And did it relate to Tenten at all?
"Both, really," said Izumi. "I mean, we've all got to make sacrifices for the clan. And, well, it's what-"
"Tell Father the answer is no," said Itachi.
"What?" said Izumi incredulously. "But Itachi, the Uchiha Clan, is really growing in power since Root went underground. There are even rumors that you might become... well...
"Hokage.
"I mean, you're more than powerful enough for it."
"Of what relevance does any of that have to the matter we are discussing?" asked Itachi simply.
Izumi shifted while Tenten speared another piece of litter. This was making not focusing a lot easier, actually. "I don't think we need to be that careful.
"I mean, once we make it clear our property was stolen, who's going to argue?"
Property? How did that fit into things? "This has nothing to do with pragmatism, Izumi," said Itachi. "I will have nothing to do with this course of action because what Father is suggesting is wrong. He has not even seen the thing that he has dismissed as a mere object." Then he looked to where Tenten was listening. "Tenten, if you're going to eavesdrop, do so more subtly. Your technique is too obvious."
"Yes, Itachi-sensei," said Tenten before obeying.
"You're uh... you're using genjutsu on them during a Drank, aren't you?" asked Izumi. "Isn't that against the rules?"
"They are already fully qualified in performing D ranks," said Itachi. "As such, I have raised the difficulty so they will learn more from experience.
"And there is no rule specifically stating you cannot put your own students in a genjutsu."
"Look, Itachi, Fugaku isn't going to be happy about this. You know as well as I-" began Izumi.
"Father views me as a tool. I have no interest in making his views correct," said Itachi simply.
"Itachi, you can't just defy the entire Uchiha Clan," said Izumi. "I mean, they've already set up Sasuke as an alternative. The more radical elements anyway.
"Are you really asking me to go to Fugaku with a flat refusal from you? Me? I'm the person who-"
"Izumi, I'm sorry," said Itachi. "But this really isn't something I am willing to compromise on. And I am prepared to go all the way in my refusal."
Izumi shifted while Tenten deposited another piece of trash into a bucket. "...okay, so what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to do nothing as a member of the Leaf or the Uchiha Clan," said Itachi simply. And then he turned to them. "Neji, Tenten, Lee, how would you feel about coming over to my house for dinner?"
"Wait, what? Why?" asked Tenten.
"Well, you are my students, and you don't seem to have had much of a break," said Itachi. "I thought you might enjoy meeting my immediate family."
"I uh..." Rock Lee. "I would be honored, sensei."
"Is there something else to this, sensei?" asked Neji. His eyes narrowed.
"It's a complicated matter, Neji," said Itachi. "Suffice to say that Father is attempting to pressure me into doing something I don't want to do. I feel that inviting you three over will infuriate him.
"And since I am a dutiful son who has never asked anything only seeks to please, he cannot refuse me."
Izumi stepped back. "Itachi, what are you doing?"
"Fostering an understanding," said Itachi simply. "I think Mother will love them."
The discussion didn't go much further than that. They finished their duties, and then they began to walk home. As they did, Tenten crossed her arms.
"...Alright, there is something going on here," said Tenten. She'd finally concluded this involved them.
"I do not see why you believe that, Tenten," said Rock Lee. "Although I confess, I do not pretend to have an understanding of what they were talking about."
"The shipment was a person," said Neji.
"What?" said Tenten.
"Nothing, it's nothing, Tenten," said Neji with a shrug. "Don't-"
"Don't concern myself with the machinations of scary people?" asked Tenten, looking at him hard. "What's going on here, Neji?"
"I don't know," said Neji. "I have suspicions, but I will not say any of them until I have time for confirmation."
"Whatever is going on, it has to have been going on since before we took the bell test," decided Tenten. "We've only just got back, and Izumi hadn't seen Itachi in a while."
"Do you think that trip we made to Orochimaru's old lab has any relevance?" asked Rock Lee.
"You think Itachi-sensei might have been giving some sort of hint?" asked Tenten.
"It's more likely that he was there to retrieve something," said Neji carefully. "Or he wanted to retrieve something but didn't find it."
Tenten shrugged in indifference. "So, anyone want to get something to eat?"
"Hey, guys!" came a familiar, annoying voice.
Tenten looked up to see Naruto Uzumaki running up to her. Not him again. "Oh, uh, Naruto, how are you?"
"Pretty good," said Naruto. "Hey, um, Tenten, I never got a chance to thank you before."
"For what?" asked Tenten.
"Oh, for sending Neji to help me out before," said Naruto. "It uh, helped me think a lot clearer. I appreciate all the help."
"I'm glad to hear it," said Tenten, more than a little annoyed that he was doing so well. "We were about to go get something to eat to celebrate our success."
"Well, we could go to Ichiraku Ramen together if-" began Naruto.
"No," said Tenten. "We uh, we're planning for it to be the three of us. Sorry Naruto, this is sort of a team thing. I'm sure you'll be able to hang out like this with your team when you graduate, though."
And they moved off, Naruto looking disappointed.
"I do not see why we could not have gone with him," said Rock Lee.
"Because then I'd have to acknowledge his existence," said Tenten. "What, so I make some snide commentary and pressure Neji into helping him once. And all of a sudden, I'm his best friend?
"No, thank you."
"Your actions seem to have made his life better," said Rock Lee.
"How does that help me?" asked Tenten. "Naruto Uzumaki is going to be handed everything in the world. For stuff, he never had to work a day in his life for. I'm sure he'll be able to get plenty of people who will pretend to be his friend.
"For my part, I've got too much self-respect to pretend to be anyone's friend for a leg up. If I'm going to be friends with someone, it will be because it was my choice."
"Well, why won't you become his friend," said Rock Lee.
"Because I don't want to," said Tenten.
They had some very delicious dumplings and talked about their missions and plans. Tenten remembered her archenemy's disappointed look. The best part was that Tenten hadn't done anything wrong. She'd simply stood on her rights to not associate with him and hurt her archenemy. Her conscience was clear, victory was hers, and her archenemy was in her debt.
Life was good.