AN. Hallo! And welcome to Chapter 21! This is just after Tien and Chiaotzu's first appearance in the anime, following the Rampage of Inoshikacho. So this is only a month before the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. Tien is, therefore, 20. Please to enjoy :)

Once again, a huge thank you to Ryu no Ohi for agreeing to give up her valuable time to look over my chapters and make sure they're the best they can be. Thank you so much! Massive shout out :D

Chapter Twenty-One

"What the hell?" Tien spat. Chiaotzu remained silent, his hands clasped to his knees and his eyes fixed on the small fire. Tien was striding around the clearing, his arms gesticulating his fury, a rare break in his usual composure. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"Tien, I…"

"That kid! That Kami-damned little bastard!" Tien sat down by the fire in one swift movement, glowering across the flames into the dark woods beyond. "Master Shen will not be pleased."

"We did lose his pet…" Chiaotzu said. "And lost out on two hundred thousand zenii."

"I know what we lost out on," Tien snapped. Chiaotzu shut his mouth and flushed a little. The triclops took in a deep breath, closed his two normal eyes for a moment, then exhaled in a long, slow sigh. "Sorry, Chiaotzu."

"That's okay. That kid wasn't normal." Chiaotzu paused, considered his words, then flushed a little deeper. As if he was in any position to be judging anyone else's normalcy.

"I was sure he was dead. That tree should have killed him." Tien cursed under his breath. "And now InoShikaCho is gone."

"Do you think the villagers killed him?" Chiaotzu asked.

Tien shot him an incredulous look. "Why does it matter? He's gone either way. He'd never come back to the Crane School with us now."

Chiaotzu nodded, his mind flashing back to the moment Tien had thrown the blazing stick beneath the poor beast's broad back, his purple fur singeing as he'd bellowed in pain. InoShikaCho was only obeying them to begin with because Shen had ordered him to, the monster obedient to their shared master. Still, the telepath hoped that InoShikaCho wasn't dead. He had liked to think that during their month of conning money from villages that they had grown close to the beast. Despite this, Tien had continually maintained that they were just doing a job, just like any other contract, and that they couldn't get too attached. He hadn't said this in front of InoShikaCho, of course, reminding Chiaotzu telepathically whenever the boy seemed to be too affectionate.

"Do you think Master Shen will be mad?" Chiaotzu asked, trying to hide how much the idea of this frightened him.

Tien shrugged, a very slight movement of his broad shoulders. "Even if he is, what can he do? We're still bringing back almost four hundred and fifty thousand zeni. Plus the Tenkaichi Budokai is only a month away; he can't hurt us too badly or we won't be able to bring him recognition and prize money in the ring."

Chiaotzu flinched and looked down sharply. Tien was right, of course. Shen couldn't injure his star fighters with the tournament looming so soon on the horizon. There was no doubt in his mind that if Shen didn't have another score to settle, they would both be punished severely on their return. As it was, they could only hope that he wouldn't remember after the tournament was over. Forgiveness from Shen was a folly Chiaotzu didn't dare entertain.

"I can't believe I was bested by a child," Tien growled to himself, probably not even aware he was talking aloud. Chiaotzu felt vaguely stung by this, even though he hadn't been able to beat Tien for years.

"As I said, he wasn't any ordinary child," Chiaotzu murmured. He frowned. "I swear I've heard his name before, but I can't remember where..."

"Maybe Master Shen mentioned him once?" Tien offered with a slightly aggravated tone.

"No. I think it was at a tournament somewhere? Not in the Crane School for sure." Something sparked in his memory, a momentary flash, but it was gone before he could grab onto it and force it to form. He shook his head. "I can't remember, sorry, Tien."

Tien shrugged and crossed his arms. He was smirking again, his body relaxed. He had clearly gotten his emotions back under control. "It doesn't matter anyway. Hopefully we never see that brat again, but if we do we'll just crush him into the dirt where he belongs. And next time I'll make sure to finish the job."

Chiaotzu nodded, biting the inside of his cheeks to hide the concerned frown that wanted to slant his mouth. Cautiously, hoping not to irritate his brother, he said, "You're not allowed to kill people during tournaments, Tien. You know that."

Tien frowned slightly, then his smirk reemerged. As he had become more arrogant and confident in his own abilities he had also become somehow disconnected from Chiaotzu. Their mental link was still there and still easy to connect, but it wasn't as entwined as it had been before, each of their emotions no longer as available to the other, protected by walls they had individually constructed. Chiaotzu had mourned this loss already. Tien clearly had no idea how much this disconnect affected the young telepath. It felt as though he was being left behind, and he wasn't sure that Tien remembered the promise he had made so long ago.

"It's fine," the triclops smirked, "I'll just hurt him really badly, and then after the tournament, then I'll kill him."

It was the first time Tien had casually mentioned killing someone outside of an assassination contract. The words sent ice through Chiaotzu's veins. He almost couldn't believe the boy he had raised was so nonchalant with someone's life; even someone who had wronged them. The corrupting influence of Shen clearly ran deeper than the slight humility Chiaotzu had tried to instill. He was only a kid, after all, what did he know about raising a child? "Is that…a good idea?" he ventured.

Tien looked thrown off, his smirk disappearing. "Why wouldn't it be? I don't understand what you mean, Chiaotzu."

"I just mean… He was just a kid… A powerful one who ruined our con, but a kid nonetheless. Would you really kill an innocent kid?" Chiaotzu asked, his voice shaky and nervous. He clasped his hands together tightly between his knees, his nails digging into the back of his hands, his eyes downcast. He didn't want to see the look on Tien's face.

There was a long silence between them, broken only by the crackles and pops of the fire. Eventually Tien spoke, in a voice that was soft and thoughtful, "I don't know. I haven't had to try yet." Chiaotzu flinched slightly and looked up, meeting Tien's eyes. The triclops was frowning, a hint of confusion visible on his face. Chiaotzu took hope from that; that maybe the boy he had raised was really still in there somewhere. "Maybe I wouldn't be able to."

"I could never kill a kid," Chiaotzu said firmly, hoping that his words would catch somewhere in Tien's psyche, that they would lodge there. "I don't think killing children is a sign of strength."

Tien's frown deepened slightly at those words and Chiaotzu wondered privately if he'd pushed it too far. Then the triclops nodded and his face relaxed. "I suppose you have a point." His lips curled up in a smile, not a smirk for the first time in months, and Chiaotzu smiled back, glad that some sign of his big brother was still present in the cold, calculated assassin who had taken his place.

AN. So I'm heading into job interviews now and so any positive words would be greatly appreciated! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you next chapter. Thanks again guys :D