SUMMARY: Tenten and Re like Fuuinjutsu.
I won't be able to update for the next few days (probably until Wednesday) so I'm posting four chapters (Part 13 to 16) now.
In retrospect, patting the boy on the head was probably too much.
But compared to all the times the boy had kicked and beaten him, Naruto thought it wasn't that bad.
Still he should have accounted for it.
He meets Neji's flat stare and sheepishly looks down.
Of course that is the moment Re walks in.
She takes in the once again unconscious Uchiha, the sheepish Ru and Neji's judgemental look and bursts out laughing.
"Tenten!" she singsongs.
Ru blanches.
Quickly, he tires to escape, to avoid the inevitable.
Tenten is scary.
A hand grabs his collar.
"And where do you think you're going?"
Ra doesn't know how to make friends.
At least not 'normally'.
She is friends with Re because they trusted each other.
They had to.
And then they found Ru.
They also sort of kidnapped him.
He was a willing victim though, so it isn't too bad.
But considering where she'd grown up, it is a wonder her moral compass is somewhat alright.
Then along came Gaara.
And then Temari and Kankuro.
And then Lee.
Then Tenten.
It's not really like Ra had to do anything.
She just sat and meditated.
Then there is Pineapple.
She is still deciding if he is actually trying to befriend her.
The point is, Ra doesn't know how to make friends.
At all.
Allies and enemies are so much easier to make.
Less dangerous too.
They don't know you as well, can't rip your heart out like friends.
She doesn't have many friends.
She has never made friends the 'normal' way.
It's not like anyone every bothered to teach her.
They saw the way she clung to Ru.
The stories differed.
She is either an innocent victim or a wicked collaborator.
There is no in between.
They are wrong.
If there is one thing she has learnt it is that everything is grey.
Perhaps if she was 'normal', she would be horrified by pickpockets.
But she isn't.
She isn't and all she sees is desperate children.
Ra isn't 'normal'.
Not like the blonde girl in front of her, fidgeting as she asks if they can be friends.
But the girl isn't 'normal' either, is she?
Ra looks at Ino assessingly and smiles.
Neither of them are normal.
So she says yes.
His captors keep him for two days.
At least, he thinks it is two days.
He cannot really tell.
When he awakes for the fourth time, he is not tied up anymore.
The Hyuuga, his female teammate and the one of the Teme's teammates is there.
He cannot stop himself checking his shoulder for the seal.
There is nothing there.
He blinks.
Still, there is nothing.
Sasuke doesn't know whether to feel grateful or angry.
On one hand, he does not have that disgusting thing on him anymore.
On the other, how is he every meant to defeat Itachi?
The two Kunochis are beaming at him.
"We removed it!"
Sasuke exhales.
Clearly, they thought an enemy Nin had put it on him - like the paralysis seals.
But if they managed to remove it - weak as they are - then Orochimaru must be less intelligent than he thought.
There is no point in going to find him.
He needs to find another teacher.
Re hates the seal.
It makes her skin crawl.
It horrifies her that someone could actually make that abomination.
The swirls are beautiful and it looks nice but Re thinks it is ugly.
It is even worse than Anko's.
She doesn't know how Orochimaru managed to - how he came up with the depraved thing.
She doesn't want to know.
She doesn't even know why she's shocked.
She has seen worse after all.
But that doesn't mean it's any less disgusting.
She ends up better that Tenten though.
She's a little worried about the other girl.
Her eyes look glassy and she's generally unresponsive.
Neji - her cousin (she still doesn't want to accept that) - looks confused.
As confused as he can look anyway.
She is practically spitting when she explains it.
She has seen those seals before - in some of the scrolls she stole.
She ought to be more embarrassed about that but they were collecting dust so...
But that's not the point.
Seals like this were used to help recipients in times of need.
Not for this.
The people involved could essentially share chakra.
This is a mutation - some sort of mix with a will weakening element to it.
Re could weep.
She has other things to do.
She only has a few days to work on it before people come looking for the Uchiha.
She nods at Neji.
It took surprisingly little to convince him.
It makes Re hate the Elders even more.
What sort of messed up people would do something like that?
She doesn't know why she is so surprised.
People like that are everywhere.
They can pretend to be 'normal' as much as they want.
It doesn't change anything.
Tenten beams.
The Uchiha is waking up!
And she and Sumire have nearly cracked Neji's seal.
They both smell of burning but it was worth it.
If you don't crack seals properly, they tend to have quite a few side-effects.
It is a very good thing that they were in relative privacy.
That would be difficult to explain.
But the Uchiha seems okay, they were only gone for two days and soon they can get around to dealing with the Hyuuga problem.
Tenten is grateful.
She rarely gets the chance to enjoy something.
She enjoys solving puzzles.
She still hasn't solved a Naruto shaped puzzle but she is working on it.
It would be a lot easier if she actually spent more time around the boy.
But Temari, Kankuro and Gaara aren't planning on staying long.
And she likes their company.
She can figure out Naruto later.
Once they are done with the Hyuugas.
Once the Chunin Exams end.
Once she doesn't secretly think that they are all going to be massacred.
Once she can finally relax.
It is her own fault.
She choose to be a Shinobi.
Is it too late to reconsider?