3 - Senbon

It was only after weeks of lawn cutting and garbage collecting that Gai-sensei decided we were ready for a real mission. Mind you, the 'real' mission he had planned for us was nothing more then a glorified courier run but it was taking us out of Konoha.

I'd never left home. The closest had been a camping trip outside of the city walls but even then my father had been with me. Still, I managed to smile after Gai told us we'd be heading halfway across the country. It was hard not to considering Lee's reaction. In fact, I'm pretty sure most of the village heard his reaction.

Gai gave us a few hours to pack. Neji went off without a word but Lee followed me home speaking at a speed that I couldn't hope to understand. I just nodded a lot and waved when he finally took off running for his home.

My father was in the back, working on some very thin needles. He was so concentrated on his work, I was afraid to disturb him so I just sat back and watched. He carefully poured the metal in the cast and went to check on some of the other weapons he was working on.

I must have been a bit distracted by the suffocating heat of the furnace because the next thing I knew there were three senbon embedded into the doorframe next to me. I jumped and looked over to see him smiling.

"Nice to know that I've still got some skill," he smiled.

"Yeah," I replied, eyeing the needles, "nice to know."

"Take 'em, there yours now," he said. I smiled and pried them out of the wood, examining the sharp points with a raised eyebrow.

"Now, I don't have to tell you those aren't toys, right?" he asked. I just rolled my eyes in response. "So, are you just here to admire your old man or you want something specific?"

I swallowed, twirling the senbon in my hand. "I have a mission," I said, watching for his reaction. "It's going to take us to the edge of Fire Country so I'll be gone for a few weeks."

He nodded. "All right, let me help you pack then." He wiped his hands on his apron and left the workshop in silence. I went to my room and started pulling out a few sets of clothes, placing them in the well worn red suitcase I had. I stared at it, half full, wondering what else I needed.

My father walked in and dropped a huge leather bag on the floor. It was caked with mud and stains that I couldn't identify. It smelled like it hadn't been used in years. Judging from the trace of cobwebs, I think it was more like decades.

"This," my father said, "was my traveling bag when I was a ninja."

I picked a foot up and kicked it a bit, watching as the dust jumped into the air.

"It hasn't been used in a while," he added sheepishly. "But it's a good size and you can wear it on your back, so your hands are free. Plus, there are a lot of pockets to store your weapons."

Suddenly the bag seemed much more interesting. I put in on my bed and quickly opened it up. He was right, there was a lot more room. I dumped the clothes inside and then went about gathering what scrolls I could find. The bag was still mostly empty but I couldn't really think of anything else I would need.

My father came back with an armload of kunai, shuriken, and a few more senbon. He showed me where they could be placed and then put the bag on my back. I realized how useful this pack was when I saw all the weapons were within arms reach.

We went outside and took a few moments trading small talk until I heard Lee's voice calling for me.

"I guess I should go," I said, trying to look like I wasn't terrified of the prospect of leaving.

"I'll have dinner waiting for you when you get back."

I nodded and left, determined not to cry or do anything that would cause Lee to worry. Instead, I listened to him talk about all the time we'd get to spend with Gai-sensei and tried not to yell that not everyone was as excited as him to leave home.

Neji was already there, of course. He eyed the sack on my back and let out an unimpressed snort which immediately caused Lee to start yelling at him. Things disintegrated quickly after that and it came to blows. I backed off, trying not to get involved in another brawl and ended up running into Gai-sensei.

After scolding the two boys for fighting, he pushed them forward, settling into a quick pace. Lee continued to throw barbs at Neji who simply shrugged them off. I kept looking forward, trying not to watch the gates recede from my sight.

"You're quiet today," Gai-sensei observed. I shrugged my shoulders a bit as a response. "Are those senbon on your pack?"

I quickly reached behind and pulled one out to show him. He quirked an eyebrow as he looked at it.

"I was never one for weapons," he smiled, glint in his teeth, "but that looks like a great one."

Lee and Neji had stopped bickering long enough to watch. I smiled a bit nervously. "Wanna see me hit that tree?" I asked pointing to a tree in the distance.

It became a game after that. Lee would run ahead and point to something and I would try to hit it. My success rate was close to one hundred percent. Gai-sensei was impressed and he made a few target suggestions himself, laughing each time I hit them.

"Remind me to never challenge you to a game of darts," he smiled.

Next to him, Neji let out a trademark snort. I glared over at him, waiting to see if he wanted to add anything to that and he frowned.

"Over that branch, clip a leaf and land it in the center of the tree behind it," he stated, still looking at me.

I crossed my arms confidently. "And if I hit it?" His normal passive face flickered with confusion.

"She's right," Gai-sensei added. "A challenge like that deserves some wagers."

"Like what?" Neji asked.

I didn't really know what to ask for but Lee came over and whispered something in my ear. It was a good idea and I had none of my own anyway. "If I hit it, you buy me two scoops of ice cream when we reach the next town. If I miss, I'll buy yours instead."

Neji paused for a few minutes and looked over at the target. After a moment, he nodded.

I placed one of the senbon in between my fingers and carefully examined the path to the target. Neji probably assumed that just because I couldn't see the tree, I'd miss. But I knew that all I really had to do was calculate the right arc to weave the senbon through the first tree's branches and it would hit the second one at around the same height I threw it from.

Everyone was silent while I did the calculations. After close to five years of doing this, I was getting pretty good with the math. So after a minute, my arm came back and I threw the senbon.

It whistled in the air and shot through the branches. The three of us quickly took off, leaving Gai-sensei in our dust. I couldn't tell whether my heart was beating from the sudden exertion or from the fear that I might have miscalculated.

Three seconds later Lee let out a happy cry that could only mean that I'd nailed it. And sure enough, the senbon was embedded in the trunk of the tree with a leaf pierced through the center.

"That was excellent, Tenten!!" Lee cried. "Gai-sensei! Look!!"

"Very good, Tenten," Gai-sensei said.

I smiled broadly and looked over at Neji with a look of triumph. He looked at me with a bit of disbelief.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"Practice," I smiled. "And knowing that if I nailed it, you'd have to buy me ice cream," I finished sticking out my tongue at him.

I expected him to be upset but instead the smirk he gave had the faintest hint of amusement. Lee tackled me with a hug and made me promise to share the ice cream so we could both share in Neji's defeat. Neji frowned again and ignored Lee, starting to walk down the road.

Lee was about to go after him but I caught his arm and made him stay with me. Let's face it, after a few years of Neji the icicle, seeing a bit of change was something I didn't want to give up too easily. So I did the only thing I knew would distract Lee from challenging Neji.

"So, what has Gai-sensei been teaching you?"

Somehow I managed to survive the five hour deluge of gloating from Lee. I managed to pick out of a few things about the gloriousness of youth and the perfection that was Gai-sensei but for the most part I was just tuning things out as best I could.

It was early afternoon when we finally hit the town. Gai-sensei took us to the town center, leaving us there to collect the packages we had to deliver. Lee took the chance to remind Neji of his debt and after a bit of bickering, we finally set off to find a restaurant.

The place we finally settled on had seating outside. While the waitress brought over water, I took a moment to look at our surroundings. The town was much smaller then Konoha. The people who walked around were all civilians, running errands or meeting with friends. There was no sense of danger, no ninja patrols and short of Neji and Lee, no one was trying to kill each other.

I was so afraid to leave Konoha but I didn't know why. I wasn't afraid of what we would face. After all I trusted my skills and my teammates to beat anything. My father had promised me dinner when I came back so I knew he would be waiting for me.

And then I realized what it was that was so terrifying about leaving home. I was afraid that I'd go outside of Konoha and actually like it. That I'd want to leave my life as a ninja. Or worse that I'd want to leave my dad. That's what she did anyway. My mother seemed to think this world was better then ours.

I watched Lee eat another spoonful of ice cream with a smile. Neji was telling him that it was supposed to be for me. I gave them another few minutes before Lee issued his challenge and I had to step in, probably armed with several pointy weapons, to remind them they needed to behave in town.

Because this town wasn't like Konoha. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I would never want to live in a place like this.

Gai came back a few minutes later, arms loaded with boxes that contained the cargo we were supposed to transport. Neji and Lee took most of it while Gai assigned me the watch.

I took the trees, jumping from branch to branch while I kept watch for any outlaws that might think we were an easy target. The leaves barely moved as I passed. I made sure to leave no signs that anyone had been this way.

It was wonderful, to fly through the trees of a place I had never been before. I didn't feel the same way I had in the town we just left. I wasn't afraid and I didn't feel out of place. Here in the forest, it felt right.

We set up camp in the middle of a clearing as the sun set. I had to help Lee set up his tent but I didn't mind. I felt like I could finally enjoy his happiness for this mission. We laughed about the people we had seen in the town. Lee did a few impressions and if I wasn't mistaken, I swore I saw Neji crack a smile.

Gai-sensei assigned watch duty but I got to sleep since I had spent most of the day doing it. I argued that I was more then willing to take a few hours since I wasn't that tired. But sensei just smiled and told me to relax. Five minutes later, I was out cold.

When I woke up, the sun was still not up but I felt completely rested. To my right, Lee was sleeping peacefully, arms wrapped around what appeared to be a stuffed animal. I stifled a giggle and settled for patting him on the head as I stood up. Across from him, Gai-sensei cracked open an eye as I moved and promptly fell back asleep.

I moved towards the last member of our group, knowing he had already seen me before I came to his side. His eyes were strained, the veins on the side meaning he was using his Byakugan to scan the area.

"You can go sleep if you want," I said.

Neji shook his head. "I have watch until dawn."

I started to argue but let it drop. I knew once Neji was given an order, he wouldn't disobey it. So instead, I just sat next to him and watched the forest with him in silence. At some point, the sky began to change, slowly lightening as the sun began to rise.

I smiled slightly as the first rays of sunlight hit the forest. I stretched my arms out to let the light start to warm them. Next to me, Neji shifted and the Byakugan slowly faded. He stood up and started to walk away but came to a stop.

"It's good that you're back to normal," he said. "It was distracting to have you sulking."

I frowned before I realized this was the closest that Neji could come to showing concern. "I guess I was worried for nothing. It's pretty nice, you know, getting away from home and seeing something new," I said.

Neji nodded slightly and looked up at the trees.

"It makes me feel..." I started but couldn't find the right word. I was happy. I wasn't worried. I was excited to be part of a mission. But none of those seemed to fit.

"Free," Neji said softly.

I smiled because I realized he was right.

Author's note : Writer's block sucks. Finding a movie and a soundtrack to inspire you works wonders. Sorry for the delay, works been very tiring. Hopefully the next submission won't take as long. Thanks again for all the critiques, criticism and reviews. Everytime you leave one, it helps me be a better writer.