Metamorphosis Part 3

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

The high-pitched sound of the metal smashing against metal could be heard throughout the small dark room with only but an orange light emanating from one part of it. Inside were three people, all wearing protective masks, rubber suits and goggles and each of them had a hammer in one hand and a gripping tool on the other.

On the anvil was a long flat piece of recently forged metal its tip glowing red as it was grabbed recently from a furnace just a few feet from them. To the very end of the room were a table and multiple scrolls spread everywhere. If someone were to look closely, they would conclude that the writings on those scrolls were fuinjutsu inscriptions. They were used in some form of utility within the research department's own forgery.

"I must say, the progress we have been making with these prototypes have so far been very quick and very good. I guess it really is good to have someone who knows weapons and their use inside and out." The only male of the group replied as he smashed the piece of metal with his hammer as Tenten and Shiho held it firmly on the anvil.

CLANG!

"Sensei, we've been saying that to you for the past two years! You need someone's help in something like this. You cannot believe how many people are interested in your projects!" Shiho replied giving an exasperated sigh from the research department's complete airheaded tendencies that pop up from time to time.

CLANG!

The absentminded male of the group merely chuckled and said, "I haven't considered it until the product was completed, actually. Besides, it would be hard for anyone to gather the necessary ores. The metallic compositions would have surely made their head swirl, thankfully, we have Tenten-san for that now and she's our best test driver for our prototypes!"

CLANG!

"Less talking, more smashing!" Tenten commanded, making the duo look at her and then readily complied when she looked back at them with a glare.

It had taken her a while to get used to idea of a more advanced form of forging when handling special materials like the ones that Ryuugamine-sensei requested on her missions outside the village. She usually finds them well enough, the mining towns she usually goes to pretty much has them. The rare ones were another story though.

Tenten usually had to go out of her way to know and gather intel about those ores before she could even get them. She would often ask for leaves just to find them more often than not, many of her exploits were disappointments but along with those were newer releases of information concerning the rarity of some of the ores she was finding.

Finding the ores that the research department requested should have taken her more than a year to finish up, but with the help of her teammates, she got them a lot faster. By no means was it an easy feat to locate five very rare and highly valuable metallic ores meant for forging the finest weaponry that she could think of and to anybody else, they would have given up for the tedious work in gathering them.

But Tenten was different, her hobbies were different. Her likes usually involved using weaponry and mastering them to a polish nobody has ever reached.

Some people even likened her mastery over any weapon as a sign of genius. Neji would often comment that Tenten was a kinaesthetic genius, having the ability to master any weaponry for a short period of time.

She would just play it off as nothing more than part of her obsession.

But was it, really?

She had seen others would spend months in mastering just one weapon style while it only took her half of that amount and sometimes even shorter if it were just involving new throwing weapons.

She found it really easy to understand though. Weapon usage principles weren't that different from each other. It was adjustment and usage of a particular weapon that was the crucial part for someone like her and she had nurtured this ability ever since she was an academy student.

She knew how a zanbatou works from a wakizashi and how a naginata is far more different to a spear.

Applications aside, such a wide and versatile moveset was not one without flaws.

She knew it for a while, ever since she lost horribly against Temari from Suna. Her weapon ranges were deadly and she could beat anyone with her weapons if it came down to a fight. But if Ninjutsu were to be discussed, she would be in trouble.

She had never considered ninjutsu to be much of an interesting subject. In fact she found it complicated and sometimes even unwieldy. The usage of hand seals in a fight is crucial for ninjutsu and sometimes it would take a while for ninjutsu users to release the effect of their jutsu. Split second decisions decide shinobi battles, they would be over in a matter of seconds and she was not going to let that be a mistake on her part.

But when she encountered this place, it gave her a chance. Something in it gave her an opportunity to advance in ways she would have never thought of. Being given Suigintou (Mercurial Blade) was that trigger that she would need to dive in to this world of metal and fire.

She looked at the stockpile of weapons lined up behind her after she had done smashing her hammer on the hot metal as her colleagues began the process of cooling it down.

There was a throwing glaive with retractable blades about the size of a child. The shape of the weapon unopened would be likened to a shield but one the blades spring up, they would separate to three equal parts and the shape of the blade would resemble more of a raptor's claws.

Then there were a pair of small kodachi sized blades, one was sheathed in a red saya while the other one in black. Multiple seal inscriptions were written on the scabbards of these swords as small pieces of rope tangled around the Tsuba.

Then there was a three sectioned staff, all sections different in color from each other. One was red, the middle was yellow and at the other end was blue. Three dragon heads adorned this weapon all facing in one direction with the blue dragon biting on to the yellow dragon's tail and that dragon biting on to the red dragon that had its mouth closed. The seal inscriptions were missing on the staff's body as they were hidden inside the dragon heads.

Another was a chain and sickle weapon with a weighted ball on the other end of the chain. There were countless seals placed on the chain, the bolt and the sickle itself were something of a nightmare to her and her team for a while. It was still a prototype and they still were ironing out the bugs on the seals but with the way their group was now, it would probably take a while or at least, until a true seals master took charge.

Then there were on the other side of the room, where the table was adorned by the countless scrolls haphazardly opened and on the floor as well, beside that table were two new weapons alongside her familiar ones.

First there was her bow Shinkyu (God's bow), it was still complicated by design, but the sealing arrays placed on them were slightly changed. She could now fire multiple shots of chakra arrows without that much strain on her reserves as before. Ryuugamine was a good seals expert, but he had his limits and he was still far from being called a master. But the bow now was much more streamlined than it was before.

To its right was a large single edged dao sword that had the thickness of the flat part of the blade of a man's arm and the length of approximately one meter. The handle of the sword was slightly curved and two rings the sizes of bracelets were at the back of the blade, dangling along a serrated back end. This was one of the last weapons that they had created. It wasn't as meticulous as the chain and sickle weapon, but the whole thing was downright difficult by the homestretch. It was still new but she could already tell this was going to cause her problems.

Just to the right of the dao was a Naginata with a red metallic pole as the handle. Supporting the Naginata was a tsuba that had seals spiralling down to the end of the red pole and interconnecting to one another. Three pieces of white cloth dangled on the Tsuba and had seals written on them right to the Tsuba.

It took them a year to finish all of these just for a test drive, but so far, the most weapons that had given a positive feedback now were the twin kodachi set, the three quartered staff, the throwing glaive and somewhat the Naginata. She was glad she passed the Chuunin exam this time with the help of Suigintou and Shinkyu.

"All these weapons, I never realized we created this much. There are still plenty of ores left enough for two more if we continue this." Ryuugamine then looked at the pile with a happy face as Shiho dusted herself off and adjusted her glasses and gave a sigh.

"I have to take a shower before I go back to the cryptology department. Being here has already been tiring enough."

"All these ores are a waste if we keep making them and not perfecting the seals on them. I mean, you have the perfect formula for making the most durable and sharpest set of weapons yet, sensei bordering on supernatural, but sometimes I think that your seals work is a bit sloppy." Tenten commented and the head of the research department hung his head low and went on all fours on the floor.

"I'm not a good seals master, I should quit now, I should just roll up and die like my sister said…" The only male in the room mumbled and sobbed quietly.

"Woah, there! You get depressed so easily, sensei, don't let it get to you and did your sister really say that?" Shiho tried to calm Ryuugamine down as he sobbed.

"I'M A USELESS PIECE OF SHIT! I KNOW! I'M SORRY MOM AND DAD! YOUR SHUT IN OF A SON IS THE SCUM OF SOCIETY LEECHING OFF OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS! I SHOULD JUST COMMIT SUICIDE! WAAAAAHHHH!"

Tenten developed a bulging vein on the back of her head, "Sensei, stop overreacting. I just said your seals need some work, not that you suck at them. You're probably the best at what you do right now in the village."

The older man sniffed, "Really?"

Tenten gave an exasperated sigh and added, "Really. Aside from Jiraiya-sama, you're pretty good. I mean you're pretty imaginative in this art if I do say so myself. Suigintou is pretty good for your first creation."

The head of the research department became a little happier as he stood up and walked over to the impromptu desk he has made.

He slid his hands on the table and wiped away the mess of scrolls that were littered on its surface and looked at the next set of blueprints he had for his next project. He then rolled it after reading the contents for two minutes and gave the parchment to Tenten.

"Here are the next sets of equipment we'll be making, make sure to read up on them and tell me what you think! And I think we're on the verge of discovering something unique for your moveset, Tenten-san! You should come over here next week and tell us your input and maybe we'll show you something cool!"

Tenten grinned at the duo. Usually, the department delivers in what was considered cool for her. That meant something big too. Tenten waved her goodbyes and then went outside. She stretched her arms and shoulders as well as her neck. Working at the department's forgery really did take a lot out of her, maybe it was why her dad seem content in working with mass produced kunai and shuriken, there was more yield there than selling unique weapons and they pay out was usually better.

On the way home, she heard some gossip concerning shinobi her age or close to it asking about leaves so early on in their chuunin career and how they were being cheeky about their current rank. Tenten scratched the back of her head. The only cheeky ones left in the village were Sasuke, Kiba and sometimes Neji when there were moments that truly warranted it as far as she could tell. Well, Sasuke's own arrogance can be more subdued these days, mostly the guy would just tend to do what he likes doing when people saw him for the rest he was almost like a ghost due to his ANBU training.

That probably had something to do with Kakashi being a former ANBU commander and team leader. So the logical conclusion to this was that Kiba was probably the one who asked for a leave.

When she arrived home and finally had her shower, she got into her nighties and jumped into bed head first. A few seconds later, she turned up and looked at her ceiling.

"Catching up and surpassing them…" Tenten mumbled that phrase to her as she looked at the ceiling. In her mind, she saw her two teammates back to back, to her left was Lee and to her right was Neji. Both of them were looking in opposite directions and she reached out her right hand to them before the vision of her teammates vanished before her eyes.

It was no secret that Tenten was the odd one out of the bunch. She was a girl that liked different things compared to other girls, she liked her career better than boys at the moment as she thought of having relationships in this stage of their career would be a hindrance for her. She liked her versatility, to wield any weapon so effortlessly was a sign of true mastery of control. Or, that's what she usually believed. Her physical prowess was above those of any kunoichi her age. She was stronger than Sakura, more agile than Ino and more skilled than Hinata back when she started. By any means she was not a dominating force of nature like Naruto, a sharp and deadly skilful Sasuke, nor was she a guile and smart tactician like Shikamaru. She wasn't as fast as Lee and wasn't as analytic as Neji but she had versatility going for her. She finally noticed that out of all her peers, her skills were plain and practical but she had no means to take on someone of Uchiha Itachi's calibre.

It was a bitter pill to swallow to know that S-Rank ninja have very good answers to her array of weapons. The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist wouldn't probably bat an eye against her at the state she was in. She needed something specific as well and her entrance in to the research department definitely helped open her eyes on many things. She knew her way around the forge since she was little, but the complex metallurgy principles that Ryuugamine had proposed were something else. The man obviously knew what he was doing concerning the metallic composition of each weapon. They were very specific, very detailed and very polished if she can say anything about them.

They were the pinnacle of forging techniques and Ryuugamine tangled with the best of them even with Iron Country's proud samurai and blacksmith lineages.

She had been thankful to have finally found a way to improve her style beyond just mastering weapons alone, this time, she can do something with them and she was happy just knowing that she'll be able to clean clocks with the best of the best.

Her thoughts soon slowed down as she drifted to sleep, the last thing she can recall were the newly forged weapon she will be testing in the coming days and an appraisal on the next line of forging weapons that Ryuugamine had told her.


Six days later:

Ordinarily when she wakes up, the first thing that came up to her mind was practice. She got up early in the morning, her consciousness going back to full power as she stretched her body just before getting dressed for training.

Being instilled in this kind of discipline from Maito Gai was something of a blessing to her, she thought. Training really brought a sense of enthusiasm within her than with most ninjas. It probably had something to do with Gai's own enthusiasm affecting her, but nowadays, her team preferred to train on their own as they discover new possibilities regarding their skills but the enthusiasm was still there.

She made it back into the Research facility as she saw Ryuugamine on his desk completely asleep. She had been given a key in entering the lab and been cleared by Tsunade at Ryuugamine's request, that meant that Tenten could come in anytime she wanted and this felt like one of those times early in the morning. She grabbed the weapons by the desk that were neatly standing on the wall and sealed them all inside a scroll.

When she made it to the testing facility, a rectangular room with multiple targets, she eyed her first target and unravelled one of her scrolls and touched the seal that had the name written in two kanji 'Tsukishiro (white moon)' in the big circle and pulled out a retractable throwing glaive from the smoke.

This was a weapon that was designed with the idea to take down multiple enemies with one throw. She raised the weapon above her head and immediately threw it at her target. The sealing array came to life as it spun in mid-air and the blades popped up menacingly with a snap and tore through one target with ease. The seal activated as it made contact with the target. The weapon, maintaining its momentum, ricocheted from the shredded target at its first attack and bounced to the next one with ease. Then it came to attack the third, then fourth and finally fifth target before the weapon bounced on the wall and returned to Tenten quickly. The blades retracted once more as Tenten caught it at its handle beneath.

Tenten noted that being ambidextrous certainly helped her in situations like this.

She then unsealed another weapon and tapped the kanji words 'Sanzuryukon (Three Headed Dragon Staff)' and out came the three-quartered staff.

Tenten then faced the red dragon head up front and attacked.

She jumped at the first one, and smashed it with her staff downwards as Tenten took a wide step to the side and detached the staff segments in her hands and out comes these small linking chains in between the staff before hitting the first dummy at the back of its head with horizontal swipe. The staff reattached again as Tenten twirled it around her towards the second dummy before thrusting it at its 'throat' Tenten kicked the dummy on the head before she flipped backwards and smashed her staff beneath its chin and detached them again once more. Tenten the turned the staff by the base of the red part of the staff and the one its head. A seal formula was suddenly completed as the inscriptions of the seal raced from the dragon head to the tail of the first segment and onto Tenten's hand spreading to her at a quick pace as seals covered her entire body and even on her cheeks. She then proceeded to her next target and smashed her fist straight to the dummy as it was pulverized from the increase in her physical strength.

She stopped and twisted the blue section of the staff and the countless Fuinjutsu lines on her face receded while her legs had multiple lines of incantation spiralling on them. Tenten literally zoomed in on her next target and smashed one more dummy with her right foot this time.

Just because she uses weaponry as her main arsenal did not mean she didn't learn a thing or two about Taijutsu under Maito Gai.

She was about to draw out her twin kodachi set when she heard a whistle coming from the entrance of the testing room.

"Ryuugamine-sensei?" Tenten looked back, seeing the said man up and about, eye bags were evident in his eyes by his lack of sleep.

"You're here too early, Tenten-san, we should be seeing you tomorrow and not today. The preparations for the new equipment aren't even ready yet." The young man yawned as he looked over at his desk to see a pair of white gloves adorned with new Fuinjutsu seals. Five circles were created per area where the knuckles should be prominent. She could tell the intricate sealing pattern made by the head of the research department

"You have more new equipment in the works aside from the ones we just made?" Tenten asked, rather incredulous at that, the head of the research department gave a single nod.

"Tsunade-sama sent me a copy of the Nidaime Hokage's notes concerning Jikuukan Ninjutsu (Time-Space Ninja Arts) as I wanted to try something out. Your scrolls are useful for multiple storages of nearly innumerable amounts of weaponry that is almost borderline crazy. But unfurling them and picking the right weapon is substantially a time consuming process and a dangerous one at that. So I designed this sealing matrix to act as a beacon made up of multiple seals and unique in one way or another and I planted them on all of your equipment."

Ryuugamine then handed Tenten over the pair of gloves as she wore them on her hands. They were very snug for her, in her point of view.

"It's a jutsu designed to carry weapons to the user's hands, anytime, anywhere with just a tap of the seal. I call this jutsu, Kokuzo Bosatsu (Boundless Space Treasury)!"

Tenten whistled at this as she looked at them.

She then tapped one of the seals on her gloves and Suigintou appeared on her hand in under a second via a cloud of smoke.

"Woah!"

Tenten was surprised that she almost dropped the blade down on the floor.

Then, her surprise turned to wonder. She can call on her weapons anytime she wishes with a tap of her finger. No more moments where she would need to run over to another side of the battle just to get her discarded weapon, this was phenomenal!

Tenten's eyes were sparkling as she almost shouted like a kid who had her first present, "This is so cool!"

The head of the research department then spoke with proud smile on his face, "The Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God skill) was originally invented by the Second Hokage as a means of countering the Uchiha during the warring clans era. Nidaime-sama would move so fast that the sharingan couldn't entirely trace it. The Nidaime Hokage wasn't as gifted as the Shodaime but he was very good at almost everything else. I couldn't replicate the mastery of Nidaime-sama let alone Yondaime-sama who perfected and refined the technique to a core that it drove the strongest of men from Iwa into a panicking frenzy. I would sooner tear myself apart than transport myself quickly like that. But your tools, though, that's a different thing."

Ryuugamine then grabbed the naginata from the wall and gave it to her, "Instead, I created an entirely new system based on it. The system was so vastly different from the original that it has become a different jutsu altogether!"

In essence he had created a different summoning ritual altogether as compared to an actual teleportation jutsu.

At least that's what Tenten thought as she then spoke to the research department's head who was beginning to mumble about the specifics of the jutsu, "Hey, sensei, can we grab a chair or something? I need to learn more about this jutsu that you're talking about, it looks like it's still incomplete from what I can tell."

Ryuugamine readily complied as he began showing Tenten his notes on the jutsu he had chanced upon and Tenten gave an appraisal on the recent improvements of her recently used weapons, Tsukishiro and Sanzuryukon.


Later that afternoon:

It had been quite a while since she and her teammates met up for casual talk. She had been one to set up all these meetings for them to catch up and talk about their mundane lives if there was one, discussing rumors and even political events that were going on and from the stories they picked up when on the road during their own missions. It wasn't rare to be placed on different teams during these times when the demand for missions was at an all-time high.

But still, having the chance to have a mission with her former team happens every so often and even then it felt incomplete with Gai taking mission after mission these days along with Kakashi sometimes.

When they met up, the three of them greeted each other and sat down at a round table as they ordered their food.

Being the communicator between her teammates, Tenten was usually the one to start their conversation with open ended questions.

She had found out that Lee was advancing well in his usage of a new Taijutsu style that he had created and Neji was close to a breakthrough with his own jutsu in mind. Tenten told them how fun it was working with the research department and implementing new ways in using weaponry and that seemed to grab the attention of her two teammates. They looked at her as if they saw a different Tenten from before.

Tenten didn't usually talk about her life as much due to the fact that compared to her teammates, she felt inadequately plain. Even her skills were totally plain compared to Neji and Rock Lee who had very tumultuous and sad backgrounds concerning their motivations at the start of their careers. She felt like she needed to be responsible to keep them from falling way into the deep end due to the fact that she was what possibly be called normal to anybody else.

To Lee and Neji, to have seen Tenten in this new light talking about her enthusiasm in working with the research department certainly helped in making them realize that plain old Tenten wasn't just plain and normal, she had a certain quirk to her that made people second guess her.

And that was her obsession with all things metal.

"I heard Kiba asked for a leave a few days ago and that was why no one's seen him in the village yet." Tenten remarked as she ate her bowl of cold soba noodles.

"Strange, Hinata-sama took Hanabi-sama to one of her mother's old home to the south yesterday. She had been fretting that she had hit a wall in her training and Hiashi-sama had asked the Hokage for her leave as well. I think she is near Wave Country at this point. He had said it was necessary for Hinata-sama and Hanabi-sama to learn the history of her mother's clan." Neji remarked as he set the tea near to him.

Lee had raised an eyebrow at this, "Are you not supposed to be with them, Neji? Surely Hiashi-sama would not just send anyone out with his two daughters away from Konoha like that even if Hinata-sama is a capable chuunin."

"Ko-san is with them." Neji replied before drinking his tea, "And Hinata-sama is no slouch as a fighter. I would daresay that she is more ruthless than me when it comes to fighting an opponent these days."

Tenten shuddered at that, "I saw her match at the Chuunin exam, I'm glad I didn't fight her. Her opponent from Kumo was asking for it, though."

Neji replied at that, "Kumo always asks for it. There is bad blood between Kumo shinobi and the Hyuuga in general."

"That or Hinata snapped when that Kumo shinobi insulted her boyfriend even if he didn't know Naruto." Tenten replied with a nervous smile. She had never seen someone so brutalized and to the point of death and still be able to scream so high pitched. She could never imagine anything so excruciating after that.

Neji seemed to smirk at that, "Indeed, Hinata-sama is a lioness when it comes to him. It amuses me to think that Hinata-sama could do that to those dastardly shinobi from Kumo."

"What really surprised me was that Sasuke-kun took part in the exam too, isn't he in ANBU now?" Lee asked, looking up as he ate his spicy curry.

Tenten shrugged, "From what I've heard he's close to finish his course as a trainee. He just needed the chuunin title to make it official on his record that he joined ANBU when he became chuunin. Apparently, if your sensei is a former member and unit commander of the ANBU, you could recommend someone even as a genin."

She frowned at that last statement and shook her head, "Team Seven and its damned connections, I swear…"

"It's not like Gai-sensei isn't keeping up, though. He's already put my name up as a nominee for Jounin." Neji said this as he took another sip of his tea.

Lee and Tenten raised an eyebrow at this with Tenten asking, "And you were going to tell us, when?"

Neji had a bead of sweat at the back of his head for this, "As soon as it came up, actually, I didn't know about it either until this morning when Izumo and Kotetsu informed about it and showed me the form Gai-sensei submitted. But to be honest, I don't think I am quite ready for it. I'm sure Hokage-sama would reject that request."

Tenten still having her eyebrow raised asked him, "What gives, though? You're plenty good enough, as it is. You think you still have to master your Raiton ability?"

Neji gave a nod, "I have yet to fully explore the abilities of Raiton chakra. Kakashi-sensei gave a demonstration a few days ago and I wish to learn from him. There are still things I need to understand. Though he has given me enough pointers and I've read some books about some of its most useful applications. I think I can do it by the end of the year."

Lee gave Neji a thumbs-up, "Go for it, Neji! You'll be a jounin in no time!"

His rival gave a smile, "While I thank you for your encouragement, Lee. I think we've had enough for today. Let's get home for some rest, shall we?"

"Yeah, and I have to go back to the research lab, I finally found the ore that we were looking for to finish that new weapon we're making."

It wasn't all a lie, though. She had already finished collecting all the ores that she could find. She just didn't know when she could finish and perfect them with the research department.

Neji was the first to leave. Lee and Tenten looked on as Neji went towards the Hyuuga compound, Tenten glanced to her left and saw the expression Lee had when they were younger.

It had been a long time since she had seen Lee's competitive spirit and the feeling of inadequacy loomed in both of them.

"Don't take it too hard, Lee. I'm sure Gai-sensei recommended the three of us. He's like that. But you do know that Neji is an obvious choice, right?" Tenten remarked, she knew the feeling well but rather than feel insecure about her own growth, she knew just what to say to her teammate and to herself.

Lee nodded, his right hand clenching as he looked at it, "I know."

"Even so, I do not wish to fall behind." Lee continued as he gave a punch forward, it was fast and the air gave a sound to his fist surging forward before he retracted it back just as quick.

"You're not the only one." Tenten remarked as she looked up, thinking of the days of their training when they were genin.

"Lee-san?"

The two looked to their left to the source of their voice and found a girl with long brown hair wearing a pink kimono with a sash around her waist. Tenten could tell there was a thin layer of armor underneath her dress and raised an eyebrow.

'A kunoichi? But she doesn't have a headband.'

"Yakumo-san? What can I do to help you?" Lee asked, Tenten glanced at Lee suspiciously then back to the girl as she nudged Lee slightly with her shoulder.

Seemingly taking the hint, Lee introduced her to Tenten.

"Ah, do mind my manners, Yakumo-san, I apologize. I forgot to introduce you to each other. This is my teammate Tenten." Lee gestured to Tenten who gave a slight wave and Yakumo bowed deeply.

"It is an honor, Tenten-san."

Tenten seemed to wave it off, "Ah don't worry about manners, Yakumo-san. From the crest on your shoulders, you're from the Kurama clan, correct?"

Yakumo gave a slight smile, "Indeed, I am. I am here for Lee-san's tutoring to help me with my stamina. I was born with a frail body, you see. I do not wish to fall to illness or lay by the side lines. I wish to become a shinobi."

Now Tenten understood why even though she had the get up of a ninja, she had no headband. But wasn't she a bit older than most kids these days?

Lee gave a nod, "Yosh, now that you're here, we can walk to the training grounds!"

That was when Tenten decided to take her cue, "Nah, I'll pass on this one, Lee. I need to get by the R and D department. They've got some sick weapon designs that I need to go over and see what we can make from there."

With that, Tenten made her leave but not before taking a detour towards where Neji was headed.

When she arrived, Neji already recognized it was her. But she wasn't exactly hiding.

"Tenten" He called, and Tenten jumped down from the canopy of leaves and looked at Neji right in his eyes but with a smile on her face.

"I decided to drop by to let you know Lee has a certain someone that is quite eye-catching. You might think that, with his attitude, he would go after Sakura until she said yes or she gets married. I guess not, anymore."

Neji raised an eyebrow at that, "I fail to notice this peculiarity, I have seen Lee and Yakumo-san several times every afternoon for almost a year. This would be nothing surprising."

Tenten's jaw dropped at this revelation. Neji knew about Lee and Yakumo? And he didn't even tell her about it?

"You are surprised you are finding about it now?" Neji asked and Tenten gritted her teeth out of frustration. Neji couldn't understand what on earth Tenten was fussing about.

Of course Neji wouldn't understand about that, he was as romantic as road kill sometimes.

"Of course, I'm surprised! You didn't even tell me! Maybe we could have set them up…" Neji cut her off at that moment.

"I was aware that what exists between Lee and Yakumo-san is merely platonic. There's no need to discuss matters like it when nothing has even been stirring between the two, not like what happened between Hinata-sama and Naruto."

Tenten raised an eyebrow at this, "Huh? Where'd you get that idea? If he's willing to go the extra mile just for exercises instead of training himself, wouldn't that be suspicious?"

Neji gave a reply as he looked towards the setting sun, "Tenten, we are talking about Lee. Lee's actions aren't what we'd consider subtle. In Naruto's case, he didn't have full understanding of his own emotions for Hinata-sama, which is why it took that long for them to be open about it. Lee doesn't have that naivety in his actions concerning matters of romance."

Tenten raised an eyebrow at it, "Since when could you talk about stuff like, ugh, romance?"

Apparently, Tenten could be tomboyish whenever she wanted to be. And the idea of having such a disgustingly sweet atmosphere around her team was quite something she didn't find cute at all.

From what Neji could tell, Tenten's definition of cute revolved around something that is sharp, black, silver, gold or dirty grey and one that could definitely bisect or bludgeon a grown man to death.

If there was a girl fanatic with weird tastes that doesn't involve boys, then it was Tenten.

"Since I've observed a lot of people in this village interact. It is very hard to keep my mind from thinking of many things when I am idle. Asuma-sensei had suggested that it was in part due to how wired my brain is in thinking about many things. Perhaps it is the nature of the beast to be like this. I don't know, but Shikamaru seems to have a better grasp of this condition. To look at every little thing and looking at it as an outsider trying to break it down to a level I can understand. Sometimes, I find it disturbing for me to be thinking like that for so long."

Tenten tilted her head to the side as she put her hands on her waist before she gave a sigh.

"It must be hard living everyday with your mind forcing you in analysing people. I probably would go insane from the mere thought alone."

Neji gave an amused smile, "Didn't you say you were perfectly fine with a team of 'basket cases'?"

Tenten chuckled at that as she looked up with her hands now behind her head, "Yeah, I did. I'm fine with it, I guess. But you still need to keep an eye out for Lee like I will."

Neji raised an eyebrow at this, "And why is that?"

"Because we don't know when things get serious between those two." Tenten replied, she was looking out for Lee overall too in her own way.

Neji gave a nod, "I see. I'll try to make time to see what the fuss will be all about then."

Tenten knew that Neji would make good promise on their conversations and with that, she waved goodbye to her teammate to go back into the research and development building to look to have a discussion with the remaining weapons that she had been asked to look into.

When she arrived back, Shiho was already there, a scroll in her hands as she read through the department head's notes.

"Hey, Shiho, you're here too?"

Shiho nodded, "Yes, most of Ryuugamine-sensei's colleagues were assigned to the intelligence department as a request from Ibiki-san and with the medical research department because they needed more staff to look into special cases. The cryptology department's best decoders are with Tsunade-sama right now, though. They say that Tsunade-sama has currently received a coded message from one of Jiraiya-sama's contacts."

"That's why you're here today? Don't you get time off or something? I mean your work is pretty stressful itself." Tenten asked as she scratched the back of her head. She had only seen Shiho out of the cryptology department right in the research and development department. It was like she was a workaholic and couldn't stay put to relax on her job.

"Oh, no, I like helping Ryuugamine-sensei out. Compared to the high pressure that the cryptology and intelligence division has, working at my own pace at the research and development division has been somewhat relaxing even if sometimes we have to work on the furnace and the seal inscriptions. It's good to know that I can help even if it's a little."

Tenten grinned, "What are you saying, Shiho? You do plenty enough to help us out who needs to go out there and fight. Without your division we'd be going in blind on dangerous missions."

"A-About that…" Shiho trailed off shyly as she looked away at Tenten with a blush on her face, "Have you heard anything about Shikamaru-san?"

Tenten wanted to gag but retained her composure with a smile, "The last I've heard of him is that he's been reading a lot of books lately and he's been hanging around the strategic and logistics division a lot. The guy is probably being groomed as the next Jounin commander by Shikaku-san."

Tenten wanted to bang her head against the wall sometimes. She had enough of this lovey-dovey stuff coming from Naruto and Hinata. She could smell something going on with Lee and Yakumo too. She guessed it was just the hormones at work. Luckily hers was as subdued as eunuch's.

For now.

Though that didn't mean that she didn't appreciate the male form from time to time.

Tenten had cut herself off mentally before she delved on to murkier waters. She then asked Shiho, "Well, let's go find sensei and discuss our next weapon, shall we?"

Once they found Ryuugamine sleeping on his desk again with the white pair of gloves filled with inscriptions on to another part of the table, they woke him up startling him a little as the head of research department adjusted his glasses.

"Oh, ready for that critique of the new weapons? Tell me the stuff that you liked and we can start making them."

Tenten nodded, "First off, I would like to say that the Tessen is a bad idea. I don't usually hold grudges but using something like that sometimes pisses me off and it reminds me of my own failures back in the chuunin exams besides, I have the Naginata, Akisazame (Autumn Sand Rain) for Fuuton jutsu, I don't need another. Second, why would you design a spear that looks like a Shaku staff just before the edge? Are you trying to piss off the monks at Fire Temple by any chance? Third, that giant axe better be a thing now, because that looks ridiculously overkill."

Ryuugamine gave a nervous chuckle, "I had forgotten about the tessen, actually."

Tenten dropped her head low, "I'm not surprised."

"But the spear needs the circle to be an indicator of how much energy it is gathering. Though I suppose the spear tip would need support when you perform a thrusting manoeuvre."

Tenten raised her eyebrow, "Of course it does, that metal could break, rare or not, without the necessary support! But that still doesn't explain the rings!"

"The rings act like regulators, once the energy goes up to a maximum, they will separate from one another and they will act as stabilizers when you throw it. Though I guess I did take some inspiration from the Fire Temple monks." He said that last statement with a nervous smile.

Tenten gave a sigh, "Never mind. But since I'm the one who collected the ores and helped you in making weapons, I get to name them, right?"

Ryuugamine nodded, "As it is part of the deal."

"Then the spear will be named Raidensou (Spear of Thunder and Lightning)"

"And the axe?"

"Masentou (Demonic War Blade)"

Shiho seemed concerned at that name, "Don't you think that's a little, edgy?"

Tenten shrugged, "If it's going to be overkill, might as well make an overkill name."

Ryuugamine replied, "She does have a point…"

And with that, they began discussing the specifics on the seals that were to be applied and the type of jutsu that they needed for it.

Tenten and the small group were all excited just to see the output of this pet project now.


Several Months later:

It had taken a while and the disturbances had been quite vexing but the hard work they had pulled off was bearing fruit. Granted they were nowhere as near as they thought they hoped but the last remaining weapons created had been so far sturdy and didn't break to the numerous exams that Ryuugamine-sensei had subjected them in. In the meantime, she had been getting used to all the new toys she had been mastering. It was not uncommon to see Tenten on the training grounds these days practicing her use of each unique weapon in her hands quickly integrating them in her seriously expanding arsenal in both skill and equipment.

So far, she had gotten used to another elemental weapon in her hands, the Naginata, Akisazame (Autumn Sand Rain) and her newest project, the single edged dao sword, Gurenjigoku (Pyroclasm). The weight of the sword was a little off-setting at first and the single handed style use made it much more difficult to get used to, but its mere swing was good enough, it wasn't as swift as Suigintou, but it had more power behind it, more weight and it opened up her other hand to grab another weapon to either increase her defensive capability with a guard or shield or supplementary long range weapons like senbon, kunai and shuriken.

Defence wise though, the wide flat part of the sword served for a better defense than a single Katana especially when she spins it around with her right hand like some sort of staff except sharper, it not only protected her, her movements also serve to deflect or parry blows and often send her foes of balance before Tenten strikes. This was a weapon of opportunism. It may not have the range as her Nodachi Suigintou and the Naginata Akisazame, but Gurenjigoku certainly has a remedy to help her against weapons with longer range.

The ring supports on the dull end of the blade that had a row of teeth sometimes made sounds with each swing but that would be easily remedied by how random her attacks were with the sword, they could even be improved upon as she trains along with it. She wasn't used to this kind of sword but Ryuugamine-sensei said that the sword was a weapon of grace and not of pure power.

It did have the power but it was unwieldy, off-putting and if it fell to wrong hands, absolutely useless.

Unlike two handed swords, the dao was meant to be a single handed sword in the beginning with just a few inches extended at the grip to drive down the blade further into human flesh and add more weight. It certainly looked intimidating, but getting used to it was another matter altogether.

So when Tenten used it for the first time in training, she had to mind her footwork and her presence around the sword. Spinning it around with her wrist was a dangerous thing to do. At least with a katana, you don't have to do that with both of your hands holding the handle.

So she spent weeks trying to adjust her body and ingraining in her muscle memory in using her new weapon.

Their jutsu though, was a different story. Being that the elemental weapons can change the nature of their chakra, their sealing matrices were vastly complicated which limited the stuff that should be written in the weapons. The converted natures presented by each weapon can only be used for either offensive or augmented abilities. Suigintou for example, has a jutsu that lets her surf on the ground to increase her speed by virtue of water acting like her vehicle and she can even reduce her friction to increase her speed when sliding. Next, she had one more jutsu in Suigintou that allows her to throw highly pressurized waves of water against her enemy and its strength is determined by the presence of water around her. If she were near the ocean, Suigintou would be an unstoppable force.

So far, she was slowly perfecting with Akisazame's specialty while Gurenjigoku was more difficult than she was led to believe.

Her practice was cut short when a hawk had appeared just above her, encircling around her airspace. Tenten frowned, it was a mission.

Tenten simply gave a nod and vanished in a cloud of smoke, preparing her equipment at her home and making a stopover at the research and development building before she went to the Hokage's office.

She stepped into the office, now wearing a modified version of the standard uniform as she wore white gloves on her hands riddled with different sealing inscriptions and then a pink cape reaching down to her back as it was held by a single short rope. Two scrolls were hanging on her side, held together by a pair of red holsters. In order to impress her idol, she had to make a good first impression. So when she stepped inside the office, Tsunade raised her eyebrow at her wardrobe of choice but then gave a solemn nod.

To the front of the Hokage's desk were Neji and Asuma, each of them were looking serious with Asuma having his arms crossed.

"So, the guy who spilled state secrets to unauthorized personnel is still breathing? Why didn't my dad dispose of him earlier?" Asuma said, looking serious as he was briefed on their current situation.

"Because your father suspected that he had information concerning Orochimaru and him being alive, no matter how much it was worth it, meant more to sensei than being killed outright. No matter how small the information, Mizuki had to stay alive or sensei would have lost his needed information. It doesn't matter anymore now, anyway seeing as that bastard did the deed before the invasion. I've only just stumbled on this myself recently. The backlog of your father's reign is too many to sit down to for more than a day. I've got things to run and stragglers to take care of. That's why I'm assigning you this mission. Take care of the escaped convicts before they make their way to Konoha or they get away. Most of those convicts are set for death row, so it doesn't matter in the end. If it can't be helped, eliminate them. Lethal force is allowed."

Tenten visibly gulped.

"How many are we talking about here?" Tenten asked, hoping against all hope that the enemy wouldn't reach twenty.

Tsunade gave her a reply, "Counting Mizuki and the Fuujin-Raijin brothers, that's about seventy in total."

Inwardly, Tenten cursed.

"It's not like you don't have back up, I'm sending Izumo and Kotetsu along with you." Tsunade replied But then added, "After they get back from their own mission, of course."

Well, there goes THAT idea.

Neji gave a nod, "That's fourteen people each. We're still at a disadvantage but I think we can handle fine with this force. That is of course, if Izumo-san and Kotetsu-san catches up to us."

Asuma gave a nod as well, "Sizing up opponents aside, we'll need to find Mizuki as soon as possible, no doubt he'll be using the chaos to get away and run to Orochimaru."

"We'll need to focus on finding him first then." Neji responded.

"And the Fuujin-Raijin brothers?" Tenten asked, Asuma merely answered, "We'll deal with them once we deal with Mizuki or the rest of the mob, whichever comes first."

Tenten flinched, "I don't like this, it's like we're being set up purposely to insurmountable odds. The chances of this mission going to the wazoo wouldn't be far off."

Tsunade merely said, "You're the only team I can send. Everybody's busy, out on a mission or on leave due to personal matters or injuries. I'm sorry, but try to hold off until reinforcements arrive."

"That being the case, I have faith in you three in holding the line and capturing Mizuki, if he proves to be useless in his intel, you know what to do. You three are to begin your mission now."

With that, the three immediately jumped out of the window and headed straight to the northern gate and outside of the village.

When they arrived, Tenten's worries and fears soon took effect.

With Neji's Byakugan active, he told them the grim news, "We were right, Mizuki is just causing a ruckus to get away."

Neji and Asuma were right. Mizuki was using the ensuing chaos to get away from Konoha and into Orochimaru's grasp.

Asuma gave a sigh, "I knew this was going to be a pain. He must be using the Fuujin-Raijin brothers as a blockade to stall us from ever reaching him."

"I can catch up to Mizuki quick enough with what I have in mind, but we would be left weakened if we separate from one another. Mizuki would be too far gone if we don't act now."

Then, two large bodies dropped on the ground, both of them wore gigantic grins on their faces that could be seen even behind the veil of dust clouds.

"The Fuujin-Raijin brothers…" Asuma muttered as he clicked his tongue, "No use then, we'll have to separate. Neji, go after Mizuki and deal with him, we'll be dealing with the Fuujin-Raijin brothers."

"I wouldn't be sure of that." A voice said, from the way that the man sounded, it was of complete confidence and arrogance, they turned around and sixty-seven convicted criminals to be sent to death row were surrounding them, all of them were wielding weapons of different kinds. It seemed like the riots turned out to be more brutal than they thought.

"Can't have you Konoha nin bother us on our way to freedom now, do we? But I guess we can have fun with that girl over there for a few hours, if you know what I mean." A lot of these depraved prisoners gave a lecherous grin as Tenten scowled beyond belief.

Silence reigned in between the three as they had their backs on each other.

Then, Asuma mumbled to them, "On my mark, I'll do a jutsu and Neji, you need to go after our priority target, whatever you're thinking of doing, do it now."

Neji nodded.

"Tenten, once I do the distractions, we have no choice but to take them on until reinforcements arrive. We're going to have to tough this one out. Your range is vital to our survival as of this moment."

Tenten gave a nod, the anxiety reaching its peak in her. She could tell this was going to be tough but Asuma and Neji were relying their survival on her.

"You don't have to worry about range, I'll stop them all here and now." Tenten replied, confidence brimming in her for the first time in months as she tapped a single seal from one of her left knuckles but not applying her chakra first.

Asuma nodded, he grinned when the girl spoke in utter confidence, he had guessed that this new generation was about to debut in the grandest of fashions.

"Let's go! Fuuton: Sunabokori (Wind Release: Dust Cloud)!" Asuma then exhaled a tumultuous wind from his mouth and aimed it to the adjacent ground. As the name suggested, a large dustcloud picked up. Asuma could hear the sound of crackling thunder to where Neji had stood and disappeared in less than a second. He then heard powerful booming shots coming from Tenten's side as if a loud thunderclap had just been unleashed.

Tenten quickly drew Shinkyu (God's bow) from the seal and immediately fired five powerful shots. The adjustments to Shinkyu had been a great help for her. As she could now load chakra quick and fire them in quick releases as well, it drastically lowered her power output on them, but the rapid fire ability made it more than enough for her. She could adjust her power, but that would take too long, and would cost her precious chakra that she would need.

Five prisoners were hit straight in random areas on their body and fell back, shocked as if she had shot her with something like a charging bull.

Tenten quickly dispelled the bow as she charged head on to the remaining sixty two convicts and called forth another weapon from her arsenal, this time, it was the quartered staff, Sanzuryuukon (Three Headed Dragon Staff). She twisted the dragon head and end piece of the middle segment and the sealing matrix took effect crawling to her skin as they reached to her eyes and ears clarifying and making her hyper acute with her awareness.

She jumped right into the fray, hitting a mook square in the face with the staff as Tenten separated them by their chain links and smashed the tip of the staff on to the throat of another mook with the red dragon head crushing the convict's windpipe. The man chocked on his own blood as the blunt injury managed to lacerate an artery from his throat.

Tenten then twirled the staff around as she reattached it and hit another mook squarely on the groin before Tenten kicked the man in the face and sent him flying. She twirled the staff again and gained some distance away from her targets as Tenten unsealed another weapon from her arsenal, this time it was a round object, probably a shield just as she was about to be impaled by a hail of kunai from her upper right, her hearing had been terribly acute at that time as Tenten spins around with a shield on her right arm and threw it straight to her attacker. The shield's seal then activated and the edges of the said defensive weapon separated and formed a glaive as it tore through the one who threw the kunai at her.

The man had no time to comprehend what just happened as the glaive had sliced through his hand, forearm, elbow and straight to his shoulder before it bounced from his shoulder blades and landed on one poor soul whose skull was pierced with the blade and forcibly pulled his head out in such brutal force before bouncing on another. The growing carnage that was happening had suddenly brought the fear of god in some men as they were torn to shreds by Tenten's Tsukishiro (White Moon). So panicked were some of them that they never noticed Tenten landing on their side, with a twin kodachi set in her hands, one black and the other red at their blades.

Tenten stabbed the black blade to a convict's shoulder, the blade easily passed through flesh with Tenten sliding the blade out with tendrils of blue energy trailing it and the man suddenly lost control of his legs. He looked up and saw the black kodachi siphoning his chakra out as Tenten drove the red blade on the man's chest and then to his head before he could plead for his life.

The red blade then absorbed the blood pouring out of the chest as it lengthened and the edges of the blade became serrated slightly.

These were one of Tenten's most sinister weapons, Chishiomaru (Blood circle) the red kodachi and Kuraimaru (black circle) the black kodachi. Whereas the ethereal blade Kuraimaru siphoned chakra but cannot cut flesh, Chishiomaru siphoned blood and converts its iron to an elemental property to be used as a blade. Now Chishiomaru looked more like a proper tachi katana rather than a kodachi. Tenten noted that she had made Chishiomaru's handle longer to turn it into a two handed sword when she can.

She then vanished again, the effect on her senses still activated due to Sanzuryukon. She stored Kuraimaru back to its saya and jumped just as Tsukishiro had returned to her and caught it in midair as she blocked another set of projectiles, this time, they were fireballs.

Tenten then dispelled Tsukishiro just as she landed on the ground and activated shunshin to quickly get close to her opponent. The man was about to perform another fireball when Tenten had cut the man's arms clean off his elbows and the man felt his guts being shredded brutally as the blood of his insides exploded and absorbed by Chishiomaru. Tenten wasn't done yet as he cut the man straight from the head down to his groin.

"Chishiomaru: Shinkusatsu (Blood Circle: Crimson Murder)"

Tenten turned around when he heard the spinning of shuriken heading her way, right now, Chishiomaru was at its strongest and rightfully cleaved a fuuma shuriken in half when it approached her with very little resistance against the metal.

Tenten then finally drew one of her elemental weapons, this time, the Naginata, Akisazame (Autumn Sand Rain).

Tenten planted Chishiomaru on the ground and then spun her Naginata around as she deflected throwing weapon after throwing weapon. Blood had smeared her figure, from head to toe and she didn't care.

She needed to put these animals down with the most brutal and most painful way possible.

"Fuuton: Hien Renzokuzan (Wind Release: Flying Swallow Continuous Slashes)!" Tenten shouted and multitudes of vacuum blades escaped her being, slicing away and cutting down her enemies left and right.

Half of the remaining mob was mowed down or lost a limb or two in the process as Tenten stopped twirling her Naginata and expelled it.

One of the convicts fell flat on his butt as he trembled from the vicious display of carnage coming from a teenage girl, "W-What are you?"

Tenten replied with a flat voice, "I am the wielder of countless blades. There are no limits to what my hands are capable of with any weapon. There is no weapon I can't handle and there is no one that can challenge me with metal. For I will cut down all those that stand in my way, be they human, demon or god, there is nothing my blades wouldn't cut. This will be the name that you will know before you die. This is Kokuzo Bosatsu (Boundless Space Treasury)"

Tenten dispelled her Naginata just as one convict had the bright idea to grab the planted sword Chishiomaru and tried to strike down Tenten.

"My blades are my own and you can never use them." Tenten then tapped the seal drawn to the palm of her left glove and Chishiomaru dispelled from the man's hands and into Tenten's. The man had no idea what happened next as he was suddenly cut down from the right shoulder up to the man's left lower torso.

Tenten turned around to the quaking man as she raised her sword high in the air.

"Tsunade-sama said it best, it doesn't matter if you lived or die, you were about to be killed anyway."

Tenten then slashed the man in the face, the blade penetrating the skull and hitting the brain in one fluid motion, killing the man instantly.

Then, some of the men who tried to get away were shot on the head by Tenten's Shinkyu (god's bow). All of them were dead instantly.

"T-This is the true face of Konoha! The merciless swine that stands above you with its so called "righteous" morals! They are heartless to the core! They are hurk!" The man was suddenly silenced when Tenten had appeared right beside the man her Nodachi, Suigintou (Mercurial Blade) piercing the man's throat from his rib cage.

"Your moral high ground bullshit ends here. You were criminals on death row, found undeniably guilty of the charges that were pressed against you, heinous crimes of murder, rape or attempted genocides, you were willing to put the lives of every innocent in danger. You are nothing but scum. I would have spared you the trouble if you all just came quietly, maybe you could have gotten a pardon for a life sentence instead of execution. But no, you chose to side with a treasonous bastard that would not mind to kill us all."

Tenten then tore the blade to the man's spine as blood sprayed everywhere.

"Suiton: Ryuusui no Mai (Water Release: Dance of the Flowing Water)" Tenten then saw the water beneath her feet form as she used it to surf on the ground, increasing her speed as she dashed to the remaining inmates that were fleeing for their lives.

What came next were the haunting screams of dying men as they were all cut down to the very last one.

When Izumo and Kotetsu finally arrived at the scene, they saw countless bodies, mutilated and eviscerated beyond recognition. Some of them were head less while others were literally torn down to shreds. The site of carnage wasn't exactly new to the both of them, but to see a teenage girl, much younger than them standing before a pile of corpses, it was a little unnerving.

In fact it was downright unsettling.

Tenten turned to them, blood smeared her left cheek and her beautiful chestnut brown hair and she smiled, the seal lines receding from around her eyes as she sat fell down, exhausted from her fight.

The whole area was practically a warzone from what they could tell. To see all of these mangled and unidentifiable corpses were something else.

"Well, don't we feel like jackasses running over here as backup." Izumo muttered

Kotetsu gave a sigh, "We're going to have to dispose of the bodies, aren't we?"

Izumo gave a sigh like his long-time friend, "Yes, yes we are."

"Damn it."


Two days later:

When Tenten woke up, she found out that her body was aching all over and an immense headache escaped from her head. She gritted her teeth from the pain and closed her eyes as she got up. She knew she was in the hospital, but she just couldn't appreciate anything for now not with that awful headache going on.

She had managed to stay awake during the post-mission briefing, Izumo and Kotetsu had woken her up to see if she was fine, putting up a front, Tenten gave a nod and ran on adrenalin all the way back to the village.

When Tsunade dismissed her, she was relieved after that and her spirit was uplifted when Asuma had praised her as she was the one who kept sixty-seven men at bay while Asuma dealt with the Fuujin-Raijin brothers.

When she got out, about halfway to her house, she had lost consciousness again.

She heard the door open and in came someone who spoke to her, "Chakra exhaustion can be a bitch, isn't it?"

The voice was familiar but she refused to look around. Her headache was giving her problems.

"Sakura?" Tenten asked, Sakura answered.

"Yeah, Neji brought you here after your mission. He said you did a pretty taxing job during that one."

Tenten was rubbing her head, "Yeah, I got put through the ringer, tested my endurance and my chakra a lot. Sixty-seven convicted criminals trying to fight their way through us and might have implied about doing sexually illicit things to me."

Sakura's voice got lower, "I hope you beat them up to a pulp."

"They were death row inmates."

Sakura knew what that implication meant.

"I see, are you fine with your headache there?"

"No… Pretty unbearable right now…" Tenten replied and she grit her teeth in annoyance due to her said headache.

Sakura smiled softly as she activated her Shosen no Jutsu (Mystic Palm Technique) on Tenten's head.

"It's a side-effect of your weapon's sense modifying technique. You overexerted a little that's why you're in pain right now, add to that your chakra exhaustion, then you have this right now."

Tenten suddenly felt much better when she felt Sakura's healing technique on her head. She finally opened her eyes and saw Sakura in front of her, she had remembered him a little shorter then and she had a seal on her forehead now, it was very small, almost minute, but it was still very visible for her.

"But that was an impressive story. Sixty-seven scumbags to destroy isn't a joke, you know."

Now that she thought about it, that really was an impressive story.

Impressively bloody and gory, but taking down that much number of criminals was something only legends were made of.

She guessed that she wasn't someone plain with a skill anybody can learn anymore.

"TENTEN!"

"No running in the hall!"

"I'M SORRY!"

"No yelling in the hospital!"

"I'm sorry!"

Gai and Lee burst into the room followed by Neji from behind as they rushed over to Tenten.

"Tenten, I heard everything from Asuma, Izumo and Kotetsu! I-I could not contain my excitement when news broke out! You're pretty famous around the circle these days! This after hearing Neji's promotion to Jounin and Lee's mastery over a jutsu that will take him to new heights and a new taijutsu style…"

Gai had burst into tears, "As your teacher, I have never been more proud than I am now! All of your youths shine brightly!"

Gai's fist shook in excitement, "You have all metamorphosed into wonderful shinobi. There is little doubt in my mind now that you will all be part of history in the making!"

"I should leave you four alone." Sakura said nervously as she went out of the room. But not before she said, "Also, keep your voices down, you're not the only people around here."

Gai and Lee gave a sharp salute while Neji gave a nod.

"You did well." Neji complimented her, Tenten merely gave a sheepish grin.

"I got the nameless mooks, Neji, you got Mizuki."

"Sixty-seven hardened criminals are no joke, they don't hesitate for the kill and some of them were even chuunin themselves. To have learned that you handled them all by yourself, my accomplishments seem incomparable to yours right now, rank or no rank."

Tenten slightly scowled, "You have better not be patronizing me."

Neji raised an eyebrow at that, "Why would I do that?"

Tenten could be thinking a lot of reasons why, but she knew Neji spoke with truth and sincerity even back then with his arrogance and fatalistic tendencies. Neji spoke his mind about a lot of things. He was a bastard back then, but at least he was an honest bastard.

Tenten just gave a sigh as she looked outside window while Gai and Lee were excitedly talking about their accomplishments and what it meant to their team now, "Never mind."

For now, Tenten was going to relish the fact that she never had to catch up in the first place. She was always beside her teammates and would continue to do so all the way.

A smile escaped her lips for a few seconds until she saw a giant horned beetle flying towards the Hokage's Office and dispelling just as quickly.

"What was that?"

All four of the members of team Gai looked towards the Hokage tower that was now covered with a large cloud of smoke.

Naruto:

"My name is Yagura, Mizukage, well, former Mizukage of Kirigakure no Sato." The boy introduced himself quietly as Naruto sat cross legged at his front.

"Mizukage…" Naruto uttered those words and he remembered Zabuza and Haku from his first mission outside the village. He had remembered the horrible stories concerning Kirigakure and how its denizens lived there under the rule of the Mizukage.

"You… You're the one who had Haku's clan wiped out. The history of the bloody mist, why Zabuza and Haku were out of their homes as missing nin, they were trying to overthrow you…"

Silence reigned in between the two, Isobu had interjected, "It's not at all true…"

"Isobu…" Yagura had cut the bijuu off. He looked at the three tailed bijuu behind him with a soft smile.

"You don't have to defend me, even though I don't remember all of that, what they said about me in the village, it must be true."

Naruto scowled, "What do you mean you don't remember!? You don't remember wiping out entire clans into extinction!? What about having children who grew up to become friends kill each other!? You don't remember all of those!? Those were your rules during your reign as Mizukage!"

"No, I don't remember them. The last thing I could remember was a man in black robes and a spiralling mask, a single right eye socket, and a sharingan beneath it."

"Sharingan, eh? Do you mean to tell me that someone of high understanding of the Uchiha's mind control technique have controlled both you and Isobu?" Kurama asked, Asura somewhat scowled.

Isobu looked ashamed, "I was powerless to resist. That man had strong eyes. He may have been Uchiha Madara."

Kurama had never detested any human before than Uchiha Madara "Curse those eyes of his."

Naruto looked back at Kurama a scowl appearing on his face, "Are you telling me that someone with a powerful enough sharingan can control you?"

"Not one thing can escape those damnable eyes' power. The sharingan was the devolution of the Rinnegan, it is a result of the blood of our father diluting overtime. But there are times when an Uchiha is born that their sharingan is powerful enough even to control us."

Naruto stood up and looked at Kurama directly, "And even you aren't safe from it?"

Kurama shook his head, "The sharingan was a dojutsu that was made to use us. It's an abomination, that's what it is. I have been the subject of its power twice and each time, it was not the summoner that paid the price, it was me! That dojutsu has cost me my freedom, twice!"

Naruto scowled, "Twice, you say. Then the last time that you were controlled was thirteen and a half years ago, on my birthday."

More than once, Naruto showed that he knew more than he let on. His carefree nature hid behind a mind with good reasoning. His upbringing was just poor and he suffered because of it. Many would often forget that Naruto's inviting nature would also be a moment where their guard would be down.

Silence reigned in the chambers of the sacred hall of the bijuu. Naruto turned to Yagura and said, "Why didn't you plead for your case? You were controlled, you weren't yourself."

Yagura thought in silence and then finally spoke, "Because who would believe me? Throughout all of the years that I have been Mizukage, the list of the names I have ordered to be killed were numerous. Their families had either blamed me or were wiped off the map. Kirigakure became vulnerable under my rule and a civil war broke out. Although I didn't have a direct hand, Kiri needs someone to pin the blame on."

Naruto grew angry, "AND YOU WANT TO TAKE ALL OF THAT HATRED WITH YOU? WHY WOULD YOU LET YOURSELF BE KILLED FOR SOMETHING YOU DIDN'T DO? WHY WOULDN'T YOU WANT TO LIVE THE REST OF YOUR LIFE IN ATTONEMENT THEN? IT'S BETTER THAN BEING KILLED OUTRIGHT!"

Yagura only looked up at the boy and smiled, "Because if anyone can bear the sins and pain of their village, then it is their kage. Even better, I'm a jinchuuriki too. I can bear that hatred with me more than any kage ever could. You know that, right?"

Naruto growled and grit his teeth in anger, "No! I don't and I never will! You don't have to die like this! Tell them you were controlled! That it was Uchiha Madara who did it! Live, damn it! Fight with me, we'll beat the shit out of that creep!"

Yagura merely shook his head, "It's not my place to do so. His sins are also my sins now. I have to pay for them even if death can be that price."

Naruto was promptly shot down after that. He didn't exactly know what to say to someone like Yagura.

'Maybe they were our enemies, but you know, Kakashi-sensei? I liked them.'

He remembered saying those words to Kakashi before they left Nami no Kuni. To see the person who was the source of pain of both Zabuza and Haku and to know that he was manipulated in doing so was heart breaking and it greatly angered him beyond all belief.

Yagura then turned to Isobu, "Isobu, my friend, I'm sorry you have lost years of your life being controlled by that man."

Isobu looked down with its own visible eye and replied, "Yagura, I'm immortal, I can't die like you humans, I will only reform. It is I who should apologize. I fell prey to that man and I couldn't do anything to save both of us. And now you're here waiting for a death you didn't deserve."

"Isobu…" Yagura looked up, a smile on his face as tears fell from his eyes.

"It is necessary. Though you were with me all this time, I would like to thank you, for being there for me, even though we were at odds ever since we met."

"Yagura…" Naruto muttered.

"They're taking me away now…" Yagura announced, they could hear the shackles breaking apart as Yagura's chains turned into wooden cuffs behind him. Countless seals were placed on this wooden cuff disabling him from using chakra.

"You are?" Yagura asked with a smile.

Naruto merely closed his eyes solemnly.

"Uzumaki Naruto." He replied.

"A swirling maelstrom, huh? You're probably one of the nicest people I've met. Thank you for giving someone like me a chance to talk to someone, one final time."

"Isobu!" Asura said as he gestured for Naruto to raise his hand.

Isobu touched Naruto's hand with his own and Yagura did the same with both his hands.

"I was going to give some of my chakra to him anyway, Asura, he showed me compassion towards Yagura, my own friend. Naruto is someone who I can place my trust also."

Yagura smiled at him, eyes closed, "Thank you…"

The line was suddenly cut. Yagura and Isobu disappeared out of their realm.

Silence once more reigned in the chamber. Naruto clenched his knuckles hard.

"This is the first time I've felt so much anger at someone." Naruto mumbled, the amount of rage he was displaying was bringing him to tears.

"I'll get that bastard for you, Yagura."

And he screamed his frustrations with all of his might that day.


To be continued…

And here's the first arc done.

Up next, Team Eight!

Tenten's new additions for her arsenal:

Twin Kodachi set, Chishiomaru (血潮丸)/Blood Circle and Kuraimaru (暗い丸)/Dark Circle- Chishiomaru is the sword that deals physical damage and absorbs the blood of those it has spilled to lengthen and strengthen the range of the blade turning into a proper length Katana. Unlike Kuraimaru, Chishiomaru has a two handed handle because of its features. Kuraimaru is the sword that when activated, it does not cut flesh but instead siphons chakra out of its opponents. The longer it remains inside the opponent, the more chakra it can pull out. It is theoretically possible to extract all chakra out of the victim and leave that person for dead.

Under this would be Chishiomaru: Shinkusatsu (血潮丸: 真紅殺)/Blood Circle: Crimson Murder- A technique which strengthens and lengthens Chishiomaru to the point where the blade becomes incredibly sharp and slightly serrated at the edges.

Retractable Throwing Glaive, Tsukishiro (月白)/White Moon- A glaive that only shows its blades when it is thrown, if it's deactivated, the glaive is an improvised shield. The sealing matrix written in Tsukishiro allows it to defy the laws of physics by bouncing off from one target to another without losing momentum and has a sure fire way of returning to its owner.

Three-quartered Staff, Sanzuryukon (三頭龍棍)/Three-headed Dragon staff- A staff that can increase the limit of the body depending on the section that Tenten will turn, the red section is related to power, blue is related to speed, and yellow is related to sensory perception. The side-effects however, begin to take effect once they reach a certain amount of time. Turning on the power segment would hurt her muscles and joints if it exceeds the time limit, blue would cause Tenten's legs to be numb for a certain period of time and yellow would cause her a serious headache.

Elemental weapon Naginata, Akisazame (秋沙雨)/Autumn Sand Rain- The lance of fierce storms, written on its tsuba and three pieces of cloth all the way down to the handle are fuinjutsu seals that forcibly change the chakra nature of the user to wind. The cloth dangling from the tsuba of the Naginata are made from the toughest of silk woven with very sturdy metallic ores making it very difficult to break and burn. Because of the sealing matrix, the wind natured chakra is hardly containable and each swing prepares a gust of wind around it.

Jutsu number one: Fuuton: Hien Renzokuzan (風遁: 飛燕連続斬)/Wind release: Flying Swallow Continuous Slashes- B-rank, A technique that unleashes a torrent of vacuum blades all around the user of Akisazame. The blades are so sharp that it can cleave stone in half without much resistance and destroy a small area in a matter of seconds.

Elemental weapon Dao sword, Gurenjigoku (紅蓮地獄)/Pyroclasm- The sword of living flames, Gurenjigoku has its hand guard a single fuinjtusu inscription and the seal forcibly converts the nature of the chakra's user to fire. It is one of the most destructive weapons in Tentens possession yet it is also one of the most difficult to master.

You probably have an idea where I'm going with Tenten and two I didn't mention because they've already been introduced in part one, so that makes the specialized weapons around seven. Two more elemental weapons and one non-elemental weapon are all that's left and it will be missing for the first half of part three, well one of them at least.

Kokuzo Bosatsu (虚空蔵菩薩)/Boundless space treasury- A-rank- unlike the Hiraishin, Kokuzo Bosatsu is a systemic variant of the jutsu. It teleports objects to a designated seal and not people. Because of the more complex nature and ultimately weaker version of Hiraishin, it became a jutsu on its own. The inspiration for this jutsu is from Naruto itself, Mabui's Tenso no Jutsu (Heavenly Transfer Technique).

Read and Review, people!