Tenten was an expert weaponsmaster.
Team Gai was specialized in direct, physical combat. Gai and Lee were expert taijutsu-users, Neji had an unparalleled skill with the Jyuuken. Tenten, unable to compete with either of these, had devoted herself to kunai and shuriken, three-section staff and crossbow, and literally mastered every weapon, no matter how exotic, as part of her self-regulated training so she could keep up with her teammates. She could hit a target a hundred times out of a hundred, a straight bull's eye. And she was so versatile that Neji and Lee had one remarked that Tenten could take a potted plant and turn it into a deadly weapon.
Having overhead them, she decided to see if it was true, and Lee had wound up in the hospital with yet -another- bruise on his head.
The sword certainly wasn't her weapon of choice (arguing that anyone could learn how to swing a sword) but she knew how to use it, and she didn't hesitate with her teammates in danger. Her hand slid down and grasped the hilt of Hyuuga's Edge and she gave a mighty tug, although in truth there was no need. The blade slid out of the sheath as if it had been well-oiled, and she held it up in amazement.
Unlike the Uchiha's Crescent, which was a short, curved blade, Hyuuga's edge was a long, double-edged sword of an older and foreign style, covered in white kanji. However, she noticed something odd about it immediately. Shifting the blade to get a closer look, she ran her thumb along the edge, testing to make sure. She'd been right...
... Hyuuga's Edge...
... had no edge at all. It was completely dull on both sides, with absolutely no bite to it at all. She might as well have picked up a tree branch for all the good it would do her.
Tenten's eyes snapped open and she swung up Hyuuga's Edge seconds before Touketsu and his crimson blade could cleave her pretty head off her shoulders. The force behind the blow knocked her back but she slid into a defensive stance, blade upraised. It couldn't cut her enemy but it was solid steel, at least. And she felt more comfortable with a weapon in hand, no matter what kind of weapon it was.
Crimson flashed in the dark sky as Touketsu launched himself forward with his weapon. However, unlike his attacks on Naruto, he didn't seem to fare nearly as well as Tenten deftly dodged and parried his every attack. And it wasn't entirely that she was an expert. Neji, still forced onto the sidelines in his icy prison, watched carefully, and hit upon it immediately. Uchiha's Crescent needed blood to activate, and then it allowed to see through and counter that person's attacks, not unlike the Sharingan. And since he hadn't scored a hit on Tenten yet, it was all Touketsu fighting her.
It wasn't much, but it was an edge, and hopefully it would be enough.
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Neji glanced over at Naruto, content that Tenten was reasonably safe for the moment. Their blonde-haired comrade was on the ground, covered in blood, but curiously, the wound didn't seem so bad as it did a moment ago. Frowning, Neji focused more closely on Naruto with his Byakugan.
There was his chakra pathways, but they flowed with an energy that didn't look bluish-white, like normal chakra. They were a charged orange-red. Neji remembered, he'd seen this sort of chakra before during the Chuunin match. And what happened next...
A face formed in the chakra, a demonic, fearsome face, and it growled at Neji. And he -heard- it.
"Kyuubi," he murmured. So that was it.
Neji had been one of the few people who'd been able to figure out Naruto's duality sometime after their fight. When one looked at the evidence, it all added up, really. Naruto had been born a short while before the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha, and all references to its being sealed away by the Fourth were vague as to -where- it had been sealed. He had whiskers on his cheeks, incredible stamina, he could heal terrible wounds rapidly and could in times of need, such as when he'd battled Neji, tap into Kyuubi's chakra as his own. That's why his tenketsu sealing hadn't worked. Demonic chakra was impossible to seal away properly, especially if he hadn't seen it coming.
Kyuubi was sealed away inside of Naruto.
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Content Naruto was safe, Neji returned to what he'd been doing earlier... trying to find a weak point in the ice to focus his chakra and shatter it. So far, however, it was resisting all of his efforts. If he didn't...
... there!
Neji gave a mighty cry as he channeled the chakra out of his body and into the ice, shattering it. With a mighty heavy, he swung his arms up, sending fragments of ice raining down on the surrounding ground. He was free! He turned to face Touketsu, but their enemy was ready for him. Holding the Crescent in one hand, he held up his other, two fingers upraised. Once more, Neji was sent crashing to the ground, clutching his forehead as the curse seal activated.
"You bastard!"
Tenten launched herself at Touketsu, blade swinging. He countered, but awkwardly, and her blade would've sliced clear through his side if it had anything resembling a sharp edge. As it was, it barely gave him a bruise. Tenten wasn't finished, however, she used the attack to move in close and inside his guard. Just because she was a weaponmaster didn't mean she didn't know some basic taijutsu as well.
Or had more than one trick up her sleeve.
Or in her mouth. Fukumi Hari.
Utilizing a trick she'd once been taught by Shizune during a hospital trip, Tenten used her tongue to loosen a hidden needle she'd placed behind her back tooth a while back. Puckering up, she blew, and the needle sped forward, sticking into Touketsu's bare wrist. She felt her mouth start to grow numb, but it was well worth it. She'd had worse when she'd gotten her wisdom teeth removed.
Cursing, Touketsu lashed out with Uchiha's Crescent, slashing across Tenten's shoulder when she wasn't able to draw back fast enough. She crashed to the ground, holding her shoulder with her free hand to staunch the bleeding. Besides, her attack had worked.
As she watched, Touketsu was forced to drop his hand out of the seal position and release Neji from the effects of the curse seal. Neji collapsed, breathing heavily, still in pain, but no longer blindingly so. He'd be able to move soon enough.
Tenten only regretted she wasn't yet able to poison the needle so it could kill Touketsu, but she didn't fully trust her own abilities. After all, a poison needle could do as much harm to her as to her enemy if she wasn't careful. As it was, she was content to have a numb mouth for the next few days if it meant Neji was safe. And it turned out her tactic was working. Touketsu couldn't hold onto both the Crescent and maintain the seal, he had to choose.
"Things not going your way?" she asked cutely, grinning.
Infuriated by this latest turn of events, Touketsu reared back his blade and brought it down with all of his might. Tenten brought up the Hyuuga's Edge to counter. Crimson met white, and the Edge shattered under the attack. Shards of steel still covered in white kanji fell to the ground, and though the blade of the Hyuuga Clan proved to have saved one last life before it was destroyed, as the impact through off Touketsu's attack, and his curved sword cleaved into the snowy ground, missing Tenten's head... barely. Touketsu wasn't finished, however, a vicious kick followed his attack, and his foot slammed into Tenten's head, knocking her unconscious. He slammed his foot down on her arm next, forcing her to drop the broken half of a sword, still clutched in her nerveless fingers as she fell into the darkness.
"You... goddamn kids..." muttered Touketsu, wringing out his nerveless hand. "Well no matter, I got what I came for... one really sweet blade, and one live Hyuug-..."
Touketsu whirled around, as Neji reached down calmly and picked up the shattered half of Hyuuga's Edge. About half a foot of steel still remained attached to the hilt, enough to be used as a rough dagger or short sword. Beyond that, as Neji picked it up, he could instinctively tell how the blade had gotten it's name. It was made of a special steel that channeled chakra. Specifically, the power of a Hyuuga's jyuuken techniques. Invisible to the naked eye, a wreath of power surrounded the blade as Neji held it up. It wouldn't cut flesh, but it would severely mess up internal organs if Neji scored a hit.
"I..." Neji raised his head, Byakugan flashing. "... am going... to KILL you."
Unaware of this, unaware of the danger, Touketsu wrongly assumed he was invincible against a half-dead Hyuuga with a broken sword, and charged forward, swinging his blade. Neji slid out his leg, assuming a Jyuuken stance, the Edge in hand. He too blocked and parried each attack Touketsu made, and returned them in force. Both blades lashed out with the fierce power of their wielders, and the ring of metal on metal filled the air, even over the howl of the wind, as Neji and Touketsu's danced a deadly dance of steel. Nor was Touketsu content to play fair. His feet swept up to try and trip Neji and kick, but Neji countered and dodged, moving as gracefully as a Wind country dancing girl.
Touketsu was an untrained swordsman, but as Tenten was wont to quip, anyone could swing a sword. Uchiha's Crescent offered no help, however, it's own properties dormant until it could draw blood. Neji was likewise burdened with a broken blade. But what both of them lacked in finesse they made up for in raw power. Neither was willing to give an inch.
Neji, however, was weakening, and in only a matter of moments, Touketsu would overpower him, kill his comra... no... kill his friends... and destroy his clan, reveal their secrets to the world.
The old Neji would've railed against Fate, but accepted it as inevitable.
The new Neji took a page from Naruto's book, and kicked Fate square between the legs.
Reversing his grip on what remained of Hyuuga's Edge, Neji caught Touketsu's next jab full in the stomach, the curved blade of the Uchiha sliding clear through his stomach. The pain would've been near excruciating, but Neji was numb from the repeated attacks with the curse seal. He barely felt it. It was a clear indication of just how bad he was hurt, but right now, he didn't care.
Touketsu grinned widely, laughing. "I win, Hyuuga."
"Not quite," said Neji, and jammed the Edge down, hard. His weapon hit Touketsu's wrist, and the force of the attack shattered his wrist, forcing him to loose his grip on the Uchiha's crescent as he wrenched it free. Blood poured from both of the holes in Neji's stomach, but he ignored them, and dropped the hilt of his own weapon, assuming a familiar stance.
Startled but not beat, Touketsu changed tactics, quickly throwing up a defense. "Hyouton no Yoroi!" Ice encased his body, protecting him from attack, charged with chakra. Even a Hyuuga's Hakke Rokujyuujonshou couldn't penetrate such an attack.
Neji, however, was no ordinary Hyuuga. And he knew some tricks that weren't written down on the Scroll of Sealing.
His stance shifted, his arms and legs changing as he assumed a new stance, and he lifted his head, his Byakugan blazing as they met Touketsu's pale green orbs. And Touketsu became very, very afraid. It was the last thing he'd ever see.
"Game over," stated Neji. "Hakke Hyakunijuuhachishou!"
To describe Neji's attack as devastating would've been a dreadful understatement, though Touketsu had no idea of how much danger he was in. The first two strikes only cracked his armor, after all, as he'd expected. As did the next four, which struck with lightning speed. However, Neji had counted on this as well, and that's why he'd resorted to his 126-strikes. The first sixty-four strikes cracked the armor, but after that, the follow-up sixty-four strikes struck through the cracks and hit Touketsu's tenketsu points. Each blow knocked the Snow shinobi back, sealing his chakra system and dealing untold damage to his internal organs. Touketsu spat blood, barely able to react before the attack had taken place, and he stumbled backwards...
... stumbled over the dropped Uchiha Crescent...
... and slipped clear over the edge of the cliff.
Touketsu gave a scream as he plummeted over the cliffside and down, down below, his shattered armor falling off of him in fragments as he vanished from sight. There was no way he'd survive a fall like that. Worse, his slip had knocked the Crescent off it's own precarious perch, and as Neji watched, it tumbled down off the side with him.
The Hyuuga genius collapsed to his knees, panting heavily for breath. Exhausted, drained, but victorious.
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Author's Notes:
No evidence has yet been given of Tenten using wires in the manner suggested or having hidden needles like Shizune, but they make sense given her signature fighting style.