A/N: Hey hey. I'm going to try to post weekly, so look forward to updates on Fridays. Also I changed the chapter numbers, just because it was getting confusing for me. Anyways, here's the new chapter.
Chapter 3: New Team
The forest was quiet, only a few birds chirping in the distance. It was a great day for training. Tenten took a few kunai out and lined them up in a neat row. She grabbed one and, without having to adjust her aim, shot it in the middle of a colorful piece of paper on a tree that she was using as a target. She did this a few more times, never missing her mark. A rustle in the bushes startled her, but she still hit her target.
"Who's there?" she asked, grabbing a kunai from the tree.
"It is just me, Tenten," Lee said as he walked towards her. "Did I interrupt your training?"
"Oh, Lee," Tenten said. "No, no, I was just messing around." She picked up a shuriken and cleaned it with her shirt before throwing it. "Did you hear I'll be transferred to a new team sometime this week?" she asked him.
Lee's face lit up. "Really? Do you know who you are assigned to yet?"
"I know the squad is led by Kakashi Hatake," Tenten told him, "but I don't know who the other members are yet."
"You are going to be on Kakashi's squad? Gai Sensei will be so happy to hear that!" Lee assured her. "Neji, Sakura, and I ran into Kakashi just today. He was returning from an important mission with Naruto Uzumaki and the Legendary Sannin Jiraiya."
"Naruto Uzumaki, huh?" Tenten reiterated. "I've heard some bad things about that guy."
"Sakura has told us that those rumors are not true," Lee replied. "She used to be on a team with Naruto and Sasuke Uchiha."
Tenten was somehow unconvinced. There was a list of horrible things the village claimed that Naruto did, ranging from pranks to the murder of the last Uchiha. Something in her gut kept her from believing Lee's words, but she didn't share her doubts with him.
"He seemed nice enough when I met him," Lee continued. "He was a bit impolite though. You should've seen how he talked to Neji."
Tenten laughed. "I wish I could've seen it." Thinking about Neji made her stomach feel sick. The two of them had fought frequently. When they were genin, they found a way to make it work, but Neji's attitude just got worse as they got older. It destroyed their team's dynamic so much that Tenten believed it would be better for everyone if she left the team. Lee and Gai still visited her often, but Neji hadn't spoken to her since.
"Well, I should probably get back to training," Tenten told him. "You wanna join in?"
"I am always ready for some training," Lee yelled. "This is true youth!"
The village's plaza was starting to get crowded. Many people were busy trying to shop for their families. Emi, however, was just passing by. She enjoyed hearing the sound of people and chose to stay near busy areas. It gave her a feeling of comfort, knowing that she always had people around her, even if she didn't know most of them. She spotted her favorite flower shop and made her way towards it.
Upon entering the aroma of flowers surrounded her. All different colored flowers were arranged in beautiful bouquets and large vases.
"Oh, hello again!" the girl at the front desk greeted. "Emi, right?"
"Yes, it's good to see you again!" Emi replied. "And, if I'm not mistaken, your name is Ino?"
"You're correct!" Ino said. "What can I get for you?"
"I'm looking for a few flowers to get my new squad members," Emi told her. "I was just assigned to a new team, and I'd like to give them a 'nice to meet you' gift."
"I see. Do you know what flowers they might like?" Ino asked as she walked out from behind the counter.
"I have no idea," Emi answered. "I don't even know who my teammates are yet."
"Hmm..." Ino thought for a second before continuing, "It might be a good idea to get an assortment of flowers. Are you supposed to meet them soon?"
"Sometime this week," Emi replied.
"Are you sure you don't want to wait to buy the flowers?" Ino asked. "They might wilt."
"No, I'm sure it'll be fine," Emi assured her. "I'll figure it out."
Ino shrugged and left for the backroom for a few moments. She came out with a large bouquet of all different kinds of flowers. There were roses, tulips, and a lot that Emi didn't recognize, all unique in their own way.
"This is perfect. Thank you!" Emi reached in her wallet and handed her some cash.
"Thanks so much," Ino said as Emi walked out. "I hope to see you again!"
Naruto woke up when the sun was already high. He had been back to the village for three days now, and he was enjoying being able to sleep in. Jiraiya and Kakashi used to make him get up at dawn every morning, despite the two of them still being asleep. Naruto stumbled out of bed and went to boil some water for his instant ramen.
As he was waiting, he heard something hit his window, it was small but very noticeable. He looked over and saw that pebbles were making the noise. He walked towards the window and opened it to find out that Konohamaru was the culprit.
"Big brother Naruto!" Konohamaru yelled. "My gramps wanted me to tell you something!"
"What is it?" Naruto asked impatiently. "I'm trying to eat my breakfast, you know?"
"He wanted me to tell you that your new team is going to meet today," Konohamaru told him. "He said that you were going to meet up at Training Ground 7."
"It's about time!" Naruto's impatience was replaced with excitement. "I'll talk to you later, Konohamaru!" Naruto shut the window. He finished cooking his ramen and ate it while he got ready.
Naruto raced to the training grounds. I'm going to be late, he thought. At least it's just Kakashi Sensei. He had many memories of Kakashi being late to training, then giving some weak excuse to make up for it. Naruto slowed his pace, If anything I'll be early compared to him.
As he got closer, he heard the sound of kunai hitting wood. He was beginning to get worried that they already started. When he arrived there was only one person there throwing kunai at a tree. She looked stunned when she first saw him.
"Naruto Uzumaki, right?" she asked, "I'm Tenten." Naruto thought he recognized her name, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Nice to meet you," he replied. His eyes wandered to the tree that she was hitting. It was only marked in one spot despite her hitting it several times. "You have pretty good aim," he remarked. "Is that why they call you Tenten? You hit ten out of every ten shots?"
Tenten paused for a few seconds. "My uncle picked it out," she told him. "Well, I guess he's not really my uncle, but I call him that. We're not related but he took me home one day, and I've lived with him since."
"Did you not have a family before that?" Naruto asked.
"Not that I remember," Tenten answered. "He took me in when I was very young, so I don't recall much before that."
"It's nice that you had someone to look after you." Naruto thought of his senseis. He didn't know where he'd be right now without them.
"What about you? What's your story?" Tenten asked, "People in the village are all talking about you, but someone assured me that those rumors are false. What's the truth?"
"What rumors do you mean," Naruto asked, suddenly feeling very warm. "It seems like everyone's been on edge since I got back."
"You don't know?" Tenten stared at him in awe. "Everyone's saying different things, but the biggest one is that you killed Sasuke Uchiha and stole his eyes."
Naruto felt the color drain from his face. The villagers had always been afraid of him because he carried the Nine-Tails, but they must be petrified now. Naruto became silent but began breathing hard like he was out of breath. The dark color of his best friend's eyes suddenly made him self conscious.
"Are you okay?" Tenten asked. Her voice was gentle, but there was a nervousness undercut in her question.
Just then, a petite girl with long light blue hair and bangs walked into the training grounds with a bouquet of flowers in hand. She wore a tee shirt with a jacket layered over it, and there was a piece of wood hanging from her belt. "Hello I'm Emi," she introduced herself. "You must be-" She stopped and fixed a wide-eyed gaze on Naruto. "You're Naruto Uzumaki…"
"Yeah, he is," Tenten told her, "and my name's Tenten. Nice to meet you."
Naruto faced Emi. The girl had gone as white as a ghost. Her hands shook a little, and she seemed ready to flee. Even the flowers in her hands looked like they were starting to wilt. Naruto growled, but that just set Emi even more on edge. "Any rumors you may have heard about me aren't true," he said. "I didn't even know people were talking about me until thirty seconds ago."
"What's the real story then?" Tenten asked.
"Sasuke Uchiha... died saving me." It hurt Naruto to recall the events, but it was his duty to spread the truth. "He told me to take his sharingan before he…" Naruto couldn't finish his sentence. He couldn't bear to think about his friend any longer.
His thoughts were interrupted by a large cloud of smoke that appeared out of thin air. "Sorry I'm late, there was an old woman who couldn't find her grandson, so I helped to reunite them." Kakashi Sensei had finally arrived. "I see you're all getting to know each other."
Naruto's face lit up when he saw Kakashi, "Your excuses are becoming more and more unbelievable," he commented.
"Let me see if I have this correct," Kakashi continued, ignoring Naruto. "Tenten, weapons specialist, shows talent in sealing jutsus, previously on Team Gai." Kakashi moved to the other girl. "Emi Ayami, specialist in genjutsu and close range attacks, previously on Team Genma. I'd like to formally welcome you to Team Kakashi."
"Glad to be here!" Emi smiled as she gave Kakashi her bouquet of flowers. Kakashi examined the bouquet before taking it from her hands. He looked confused.
"These flowers are really beautiful." He kept his eyes on the bouquet "They look as if you hand picked them yourself less than ten minutes ago."
"W-well, I got them a while ago." Emi pressed her two index fingers together. "They're nice though, aren't they?"
Kakashi thought for a second, then put his hands together and said, "Release." He examined the flowers one more time before continuing, "You put us under a genjutsu to make the flowers look fresh."
Naruto was surprised, he would have never thought that there was anything strange about those flowers. Naruto copied what Kakashi did and released himself from the genjutsu. He took another look at the bouquet and found them brown and rotting. It was a jarring difference from the colorful arrangement Emi carried in.
Emi bowed her head. "My apologies, sir," she told him. "I may have bought them too early."
"I am curious," Kakashi replied. "Genma told me that your genjutsu is unique, is that true?"
"Well unique is a strong word," Emi answered, sheepishly. "The genjutsu I use is the same as anyone else's, but I tend to use it differently. Instead of focusing it on something big, I use it on smaller things that give me the upper hand, but subtle enough that my opponents don't suspect anything. That's part of the reason I focus on close range fighting"
"As cool as that sounds," Naruto interrupted, "how are you a close range fighter? I mean you're so small, I would've thought you'd prefer to fight from a distance."
Emi looked at the ground. "Yeah, I get that a lot," she muttered, her face turning red. "My genjutsu works better when my opponents are closer..."
"Very interesting," Kakashi replied. "Well, since we've all been introduced, I might as well tell you what I have planned for today."
Naruto looked at his teacher in anticipation. He felt like he should be nervous about working with a new team, but he wasn't. He kept his eyes on Kakashi who was pausing to add suspense to the moment. It was a classic Kakashi move.
"We're going to be doing…" Kakashi paused again. The drama was really intensifying and the anticipation was rising. He paused for way too long, now whatever he was going to say has to be really good or everyone's going to be disappointed. "A bell test."
Fun fact: this story was created just because my brother said that I couldn't create a FanFiction with Tenten as a main character. He didn't believe in me but now look where we are :) but shoutout to him, he edits these. Also he's probably reading this, so hey bro. Thanks for reading!