Glad you guys liked the
beginning XD I'm definitely writing more because I love Naruto! I
took a great deal of time editing this chapter over and over, so I
hope you guys like it;; Love
my reviews so far.
I'm keeping most if not all aspects of this story a surprise.
Note: I don't own naruto! (I kind of want to own Shikamaru though, I'd force him to do my homework.)
Raindrops beat her heavily as she honed her accuracy. Despite being renowned in Konoha as the weapon mistress, it was always good to go back to the basics. If anything, rain and wind both had a tendency to hinder Tenten from hitting all her marks. To keep her reputation, to grow stronger, to be like Tsunade, nothing was going to stop her especially minor things like weather.
"Tsunade-sama would like to speak to you Tenten."
Tenten perked up as she turned around to see the laid back form Nara Shikamaru. Ah, the lazy shinobi, the man hadn't even bothered to become a Jonin even though he was the first to become a Chuunin. With his back slouched and his hands in his pocket, he truly hadn't changed much. His classic look of annoyance caused Tenten to grin in amusement. Shikamaru raised his eyebrow at her reaction as Tenten gathered her weapons. "Ahh…doing this is troublesome."
I wonder what Tsunade-sama needs.
-
Tsunade sipped her sake as she waited in her office. Perhaps this might not be a good idea, but it is worth a shot. As her door opened up slowly and Tenten's tall form approached Tsunade, she let out a breath.
For the past couple years, she watched Tenten and the other kunoichis grow stronger. While Tsunade herself ended up selecting Sakura Haruno as her own private pupil, it didn't mean she neglected to recognize the other kunoichis. Tenten she thought You are Konoha's weapon mistress, no one is able to surpass you in your knowledge and skill. However, your strength lies in other areas as well.
"You do recall recently that a certain person came back to Konoha right Tenten?" asked Tsunade.
Tenten felt confused for a moment as Tsunade simply stated "Uchiha Sasuke."
"Yes Tsunade-sama, I understand who you're talking about, but what does he have to do with me?"
"I want you to help him train," stated Tsunade. "I placed a seal on him that would limit his strength as punishment for his betrayal. It would have been harsher, but he is one of the only people who can defeat Orochimaru in Konoha's time of peril."
"I don't understand, why not get Naruto or Sakura to train him? They were his teammates; they understand him more than I ever would. Wait…why would Sasuke Uchiha need training anyways?" replied a confused Tenten.
"The cursed seal that Orochimaru placed on him when he was twelve still poses a threat to his well being, I want you to help him control it," answered Tsunade. "Naruto and Sakura are on an important mission with Kakashi, so they are unavailable."
Tenten gulped. Control his seal, how could I do that? Tsunade-sama must be placing a lot of faith in me if she's giving me this mission. I guess I have no choice then, but how am I going to handle THE Sasuke Uchiha……
"Furthermore, he will be living with you."
WHAT! Trying to keep calm while listening to this sure was hard, Tenten bowed sheepishly as she walked out of Tsunade's office.
Tsunade watched her walk out with half lid eyes. When the door finally clicked shut, she let out a sigh of sympathy. If it hadn't been for your dedication, Hyuuga Neji would never have been where he is now. You were able to handle Neji for all those years, perhaps your methods can be used for Sasuke as well. Tsunade turned her head towards the open window. If only Neji knew what he left behind…
-
With a wide-eyed expression planted on her face, Tenten slowly walked the hallway with a plethora of thoughts knocking at her head.
Train Sasuke Uchiha…While he's living with me…
His cursed seal…
Sakura… she was the only person who had ever been able to repress the curse. The dark marks flowing away as the pink haired girl embraced Sasuke with tears of genuine concern for the teammate she connected with. Tenten saw this with her own eyes that day those Sound Ninjas tried to kill Sasuke. From what she remembered during a conversation with Naruto and Sakura a long time ago, the seal was very unstable. Even when Kakashi used a seal to repress the cursed one, it was Sasuke's avenging heart that eventually opened up a monster.
What Tsunade did say about the time of peril was true though; the fear of Orochimaru's increasing powers continue to cause a wide spread panic among the ninjas of Konoha. Even with Sasuke's punishment, his overall talent as a ninja probably put him among the rank of Jonin. No doubt Tsunade felt that Sasuke could easily be one of the only people who could defeat Orochimaru because of his previous experiences with him. The possibility of working with him and his unstable cursed seal didn't scare Tenten much. It was the idea that Tsunade thought Tenten could do anything about his situation that confused her.
How am I supposed to help him with that…thing when I don't even have any sort of bond with him?
Her thoughts trailed to Neji, the old days when they trained before the Chunin exam. The man had several months till he was finally getting married; the gossip surrounding it was intense. Everything from the details of the decorations to the food became instant tabloid news. This made it harder for Tenten to try and keep her feelings for Neji repressed.
His future wife was everything that the Hyuuga clan valued: sophisticated, exotic and a background of strong ancestry. Tenten's first time seeing her pushed herself to further believe that she could never be worthy of becoming Neji's romantic partner. Red hair as bright as fully bloomed roses, sapphire eyes framed with long lashes and the graceful movements that screamed royalty. No doubt that Tenten's plain looks couldn't compare. With all the wedding planning and Jonin missions, Tenten hadn't seen or spoken to Neji since that day she congratulated him at the training grounds.
I wonder if he thinks of me at all…She shook her head. Forget about it. Walking on, she saw a dark form staring nonchalantly at her. Tenten was close to whipping out her kunai until she finally realized who it was.
Uchiha SasukeShort black shirt, long black pants and the same aloof air that he always had surrounding him. He was definitely taller than she remembered him to be. Not much really changed about him though, his hair was still somewhat unruly and his eyes, still an empty onyx.
"Ah, sorry for making you wait Sasuke-kun, I guess you're going to be living with me for a bit, so umm…I guess we can try to get along?" stammered Tenten. To say that she was intimidated was somewhat of an understatement. All of this was coming too fast, too soon and the fact that he returned her welcome with a cold gaze made it even worse.
"Hn" Sasuke looked away from her and grabbed his pack. He recognized the girl standing before him from a long time ago. The bun wearing weapons expert who always trained with the male Hyuuga. Initially Sasuke had scoffed at the idea of living with someone else, but he couldn't deny Tsunade's request. It did make sense for Tsunade to worry, even after returning as a criminal, Sasuke still had legions of women who still wanted to marry him as well as death threats from others. Someone had to be around for crowd control. I guess she'll do, it's better than Tsunade assigning me to live with a crazed psycho.
-
As they walked beside each other, the clouds no longer beating down rain, not a word was said but the stares from the locals caused a quiet rumble. Tenten ignored whatever they were gossiping about and turned her focus on Sasuke. The man had always been incredibly good looking but his arms were marred with a variety of dark and light scares. Probably from all that training with Orochimaru. He continued to walk, his gaze up ahead, seemingly not acknowledging the older girl beside him.Tenten could only feel nothing but the long imaginary distance between them. If only I could talk to him, strike something up, then this won't feel so uncomfortable.
He knew she was staring at him. He knew what people were saying. The envious glares that his psycho fan club sent to Tenten. His vague memory of her replicated what she looked like presently. Hair up high in two buns, a pink Chinese style jacket in favor of the Jounin vest, only this time she wasn't standing by Hyuuga Neji. He could feel her nervousness, though he couldn't feel any feelings of distrust coming out of her. Most of the sane people of Konoha were afraid of him, eyed him with the utmost contempt when they saw he came back. The aura that the locals gave as they walked passed by him felt stuffy and unwelcoming. He eyed Tenten for a millisecond; perhaps Tsunade's belief in her wasn't misplaced.
Tenten fumbled with the keys to her apartment. As they both entered, Sasuke noted the walls and the furniture had Chinese art and characters all over them. The place wasn't too big or too small, enough to live comfortably in. Very Tenten he thought.
"Sasuke, catch!"
He felt a cool metal at the palm of his hand.
"I figured you would need a set of keys since you'll be living here and all. Tsunade-sama did put a curfew on you, but I think you'll have no trouble avoiding the wrath of our Hokage," stated Tenten. She smiled at Sasuke kindly as she headed towards the kitchen.
She doesn't want to cage me thought Sasuke. He slouched down on the green sofa in the living room. Putting his hands to his face, keys still held, Sasuke contemplated the years he spent in his dark loneliness. There was no doubt that he still wanted to avenge his family, but as time passed brutally training in the dark side, Sasuke's memories started to become distorted. With each new jutsu he learned he grew closer to Itachi, the more he focused on Itachi, the more Sasuke started losing everything around him. If it had not been for Naruto finally knocking some sense out of him, Sasuke might have lost the memories he cherished so much in his heart. Not just the memories of Team 7, but the images of his family. He let Itachi get to him. Sasuke's last memories of his mother and father brutally murdered were etched too deep in his mind to the point where he almost forgot the way his mother smiled encouragingly to him whenever he felt upset. In truth, there was more mental anguish in forgetting about his family then knowing Itachi killed them. To train each day remembering his father's proud remarks of his accomplishments, to the memories of his mother's smile, that was something Sasuke wanted to do, to truly fight for his family. His thoughts were interrupted with a small click of a brown tray presented in front of him. The delicious aroma of food reached his nose as he lowered his hands from his face and sat up.
"I figured you were hungry, so I made a couple dishes from my native homeland. Make yourself comfortable," said a cheery Tenten.
She sat on the ground looking up at him intriguingly. I wish I knew how to read him His eyes acknowledged the food as he quickly started eating. Soon, Tenten reached for her chopsticks, consuming slowly while still watching Sasuke. As quickly as Tenten could even eat a quarter of her rice bowl, Sasuke placed his down as a sign that he was finished. Glancing over at her, Tenten could feel the intensity of his eyes. If it hadn't been her being used to such stares due to Neji, Tenten's face would have been as bright as a tomato. She rose up and started to collect her dishes before realizing Sasuke had risen to put away his. For a moment, she thought she saw a faint grin appeared on his handsome face as he walked to the kitchen sink. Tenten followed his lead confused by his possibly sudden expression of kindness. To her surprise, she saw Sasuke turn on the faucet to wash the dishes.
"Umm, maybe I should do those? It's your first night here so you should probably unpack and get some rest," baffled Tenten.
Sasuke rinsed off suds from the bowl as he turned to Tenten with an unreadable expression. To her shock, Sasuke smiled at her, something that caused her to almost stumble over in surprise if her self-control didn't set in.
"You have shown me nothing but kindness Tenten. I owe you my thanks."
The ice block finally cracked.
Note: I know it sounds freakishly weird that Sasuke would still have a fanclub even after coming back as a criminal. However, it is true that criminals in prison generally have legions of women writing love letters to them. (Especially if you're famous) In regards to this chapter and Sasuke's characterization, I'm kind of toying around with him at the moment while trying to keep his personality in check. We really see Sasuke's parents alive in one episode while the rest of the episodes surround the images of Sasuke's parents murdered. What I'm trying to do with his character is to instill a new faith in Sasuke where he would rather fight for the memories of his parents than succumb to Itachi's words and kill off his best friend just to get the strength to kill him. I'm sure a lot of people believe this portrayal of Sasuke is a bit OOC. Coming from my perspective, I believe that after all those years of being a missing-nin, only to come back causes a lot of discomfort, even for a loner like Sasuke. I think it's plausible for Sasuke to direct kindness to someone who's willing to take you in without the feeling of distrust or hatred.
Regarding Neji's status at the moment, he will appear! I don't know when, but he will and the drama will ensue. I do have a feeling that Neji/Tenten fans want to kill me now.
Yeah, this fic equals Neji/Tenten/Sasuke
Any more questions, I shall answer! Leave a review because you love me.