Ramen Doodles

By Andrew J. Talon

Disclaimer: I do not and probably never will own Naruto or any other copyrighted works mentioned in this story. I am not writing this for profit.

Author's Note: When I have writer's block, I often write a lot of random snippets of ideas, omakes, and continuations of other author's ideas that kind of petered out. As I'm afflicted with a bit of writer's block regarding Key Through the Heart (again), I've decided I'm not going to leave you guys in the lurch. Therefore, enjoy some writing I've been doing over at The Fanfiction Forum.

Cyborg Tenten snippets, part 2. Two takes on the idea-One, a humorous take involving Naruto getting the summoning scroll for the Tentens, and the other, a more serious take.

"Hello, Naruto-sama."

The twin female voices made Naruto jump, and he turned to look at the two girls behind him. He blinked, and then referred back to the summoning scroll.

"Uh... Hi? Who're you? Why are you here?"

"You summoned us, Naruto-sama," one of the girls said. She had long brown hair done up in a ponytail, with warm brown eyes. She wore what appeared to be an ANBU uniform. "In response to your first question, I am Tenten Unit 04-C4I ANBU combat unit."

"I am Tenten Unit 10," the first Tenten's twin said. Her hair was done up in twin buns on either side of her head, and she wore a pink silk shirt with green pants. "Weapon specialty and taijutsu specialty unit."

Naruto blinked, and looked back and forth between the two cyborg girls. "Uh... So... You like ramen?"

"It is adequately nutritious for my purposes," Four said.

"I think it's great!" Ten said.

Naruto immediately decided who he liked better, and gave Ten a hug. "Awww! Okay then, let's get some ramen!"

"... Why did I not receive a hug?" Four wondered aloud, wearing what might almost be considered... A scowl.

Not so funny. Context here is that Naruto accidentally damaged Tenten's skin while they were sparring, and now Unit 04 has been dispatched.

He'd brought her to his apartment. It was the only place he could think of, really. She'd seemed to have gone catato... Cataro... She wasn't talking, or moving, in total and complete shock. Her eyes were firmly fixed on the revealed metal underneath the skin of her arm, as though that was the only thing left in the world.

He'd set her in his bed, and tucked her in. He then sat with her, trying to think of something to say.

"Tenten?"

The girl blinked, and looked up at him. She then stared back at her arm.

"I... I..." She looked helplessly up at him. "What am I?"

Naruto shrugged. "I... I don't know..."

"Oh dear. This is a mess."

Both of them turned to the window, and both of them gaped. In the window stood another Tenten, her hair in a ponytail that waved in the breeze, and her body clad in ANBU apparel. She stepped off the window sill and into the room.

"Who-Who the hell are you?!" Naruto demanded. Tenten stared, jaw to the floor. The other Tenten smiled pleasantly, but something felt... Off.

"I suppose I should explain. This is a bit of a setback, but nothing that can't be easily resolved. I am Tenten Unit 04. I am here to retrieve Unit 10."

"Hang on, what's going on?! Unit 04?" Naruto growled. Four blinked, still smiling.

"I suppose I must explain in order to calm you down," she said, eyes locked onto Naruto's. "This is Tenten Unit 10, currently assigned a long-term training assessment and support mission to Team Gai. Her skillset is as a weapons user. She was programmed to analyze the training methods conducted by Maito Gai and analyze a number of other things, such as the strength of the current Rookie Nine and foreign genin."

"Her mission was to continue until such time as it was deemed complete, where upon she would be retrieved, have her memories downloaded, and subsequently be reprogrammed for another mission."

"Re-Reprogrammed?" Tenten whispered.

"No way," Naruto mumbled. "But..."

"This is nothing new. Unit 10 has been operational for nearly two decades now and has gone through the process about four times," Zero Four patiently stated.

"You mean... She's a robot?" Naruto asked in disbelief. Tenten 04 reached for her arm, and then with a twist, she opened a panel in the side of it. Both Naruto and Tenten stared at the machinery and active chakra seals beneath the flesh, before Zero Four closed the panel.

"She is a cyborg, as am I. Without organic parts, we could not effectively utilize chakra," she smoothly replied. Seeing Naruto's disconcerted expression, she made her smile more pleasant.

"Do not worry. She needs only be repaired and have her memories modified, and she'll be back to work in no time. You will, of course, be asked to not reveal this information to her or anyone."

"Modified... Memories...?" Tenten shook in the bed, and began to laugh. It wasn't happy laughter, or insane laughter-It was the expression of total and complete despair. She slid out of the bed and fell to her knees on the floor, laughing hysterically as tears poured down her face.

"So... So you'll... Hahahah... J-Just erase this? Let me go back to work? Let me keep being a fake?! A FRAUD?! A LIE?!"

Tenten Four actually sighed. "It always was a troublesome unit. You are a valuable asset of Konohagakure, helping to protect it and improve it. Our mission is to ensure this village thrives and survives. Per our function, we must assume identities that suppress who and what we are-"

"DID I AGREE TO THIS?! Or did somebody just flip a fucking switch?!" Tenten snarled savagely.

"Ours is not to question," Tenten o4 said patiently.

Naruto shook his head, mind trying to grasp what he was hearing. "I can't believe it... This... This is..." He shook his head again. "You're telling me... Konoha uses... Uses machines, living machines, like... Like this?!"

"You can understand why this information is kept secret," Tenten Four stated. "It is very disconcerting to many humans."

"No shit!" Naruto barked. Tenten's laughter had turned into pitiful sobs, and the girl shook and trembled in her grief. Naruto knelt down next to her and rested a hand on her shaking back.

"We fight for and protect and serve Konoha the same as any other ninja," Tenten 04 stated smoothly. "However, our experiences and knowledge gained during our service is valuable, and needs to be analyzed. I myself have gone through memory downloads before. That knowledge finds it's way into textbooks, into new jutsu and new tactics and new technologies. It is the way of things."

Tenten shuddered, and slowly looked up at her. "You... You're going to... Erase me..."

"No! No she isn't!" Naruto growled. He turned and glared at Tenten Four. "You're not going to do anything to her memories!"

"Any emotional attachment you may feel to this unit is merely a function of it's programming," Tenten Four said. "It is not truly alive, it is merely a tool and weapon."

"NO SHE ISN'T!" Naruto growled. "There's nothing that pisses me off more than somebody insisting that someone else is nothing just because of what they are!"

"Uzumaki Naruto, it cannot carry out it's mission as it is now," Tenten Four stated. "A memory reset and repair and the unit will be functional. It is not the same as you."

"YES SHE IS!" Naruto shouted. "She's a comrade, a fellow ninja! I-I won't just abandon her to you!"

"Then you will interfere in my directive?" Tenten Four asked calmly.

"Yes!"

"How far are you willing to go to prevent me from carrying out my mission?"

Naruto responded by forming the Ram seal. His room was soon filled with orange clad ninja. Tenten Four, still smiling, looked around the room before focusing back on Naruto with deadly focus.

"Understood."

Again, if anyone would like to take any of these story ideas as prompts, you are welcome to and I would be very appreciative. Unfortunately I cannot write every story idea I have, but I hate the idea of those ideas lingering in an archive, never to be touched. So, if you think you can take up the story, feel free, I will offer any help I can for my ideas to come to life. Thank you.