Okay… Um… I have no idea what I'm doing but a review got me going again. Hey, UknownHero here and welcome to another chapter of TentenTen, one of the few fics in the Naruto section that cares about Tenten who isn't in a harem or with Neji. Er… gonna admit, kinda busy with school so this chapter won't see the light of day very soon but considering you're reading it um…

You know what, let's just see if there are reviews worth answering so I can go ahead and start this thing.

To Kerberos314: Yep. That's why I started writing this story in the first place. It is way too often to see the same plot and plot elements over and over again. It can be done well but most of the time I usually skip over them. Sure, I'm not updating as frequently as I like but that's because I'm doing stuff like studying and enjoying my other hobbies. But I always aim to write the highest quality chapters, no matter what. Also, I'd like to mention many people confuse me as American because of my accent and the first 10 years of my life were in front of a TV. To Mokkei: Okay, but I'm kinda stuck on that considering I already wrote that Jiraiya will be around for a week and I am not willing to do a training- Actually, now that I think about it, never mind. Already have something planned now. Also, this fic has character development? To cryo threshold: Yep. That's what I'm planning for the tenth tablet to do: enable Tenten to "scan" anything with unique enough chakra and gain that form… temporarily. You know what the real tenth slot is for. Anyway, that's it! Let's get this story more plot!

Load Game… Start!

Chapter 4: Improvement

When the light died down, Tenten didn't bother to check whatever form she had right now. Her body moved before she could even think to get out of the way of the giant toad that was about to land and crush her.

However… there was the horrible realization that she was still in the same spot. Her body felt heavy. She could barely lift one of her legs, let alone walk at a reasonable pace.

"Oh no." Tenten barely managed to get out before the toad landed on her.

"Alright, Tenten, let's see what you can do!" Jiraiya called out before looking around confusingly, having just seen the transforming girl train before making his entrance. "Uh… where are you?"

"Under your stupid frog thing…" Tenten muffled voice came out from under his summon. "Help."

"It's a toad. And sorry." Jiraiya said as he un-summoned the toad, giving him a good look at what form she had now before taking down some notes.

As Tenten shook her head and rubbed her eyes, Jiraiya put down that her form was based on a turtle with a crab-like light grey shell and exposed, pink muscle-like tissue, a pair of human-like legs and arms and completely covered in spikes, though they seemed rather blunt. Jiraiya also noted that her face was covered by spikes coming out of her jaw and forehead, barely revealing her red eye with yellow pupils and, of course, her three shrimp-like tails and tablet around her neck glowing.

"Hm, Sanbi…" The Hermit muttered to himself as he put away he notes as Tenten finally recovered for yet another near-death experience.

"Thank you…" Tenten breathed out. "Why didn't that hurt mo-" She started to wonder out loud, only to stop herself as she finally looked at herself. "Okay… that answers that question…"

"Anyway, ready to train?" Jiraiya asked happily.

"Hold on! I almost got crushed and I can barely walk faster than a rock! Give me a few minutes to get used to this form." Tenten called out. "I swear, I have to label those braces eventually…"

"No time." Jiraiya said as he shook his head. "We only have two weeks to figure out what your forms can do as well as make sure you can function properly before sending you back on the field."

"Sorry, but every time I revert back, my chakra becomes completely exhausted." Tenten explained. "I was hoping you'd help me expand my chakra reserves."

"You can do it in your own time. But right now, the most important thing we need to focus on is what you can do in your forms." Jiraiya said. "I have some knowledge about the Tailed Beasts and what they can do, but I want to focus on what you can do. Hopefully, and more than likely, it will be much weaker than what a real Tailed Beast can do."

"Okay… how do I do that exactly?" Tenten asked as she rubbed the back of her… neck. Did she have a neck? These transformations were making her question her own biology on a daily basis. "Um… Maybe I can…"

With a little bit of effort, she managed to retract her head and limbs into her shell. "Um… that's good I guess…?" Tenten got out… before she started to roll away. "H-Hey! Why am I moving? Why am I moving!? Ah! AH! Helpmehelpmehelpmehelpme!"

"Something tells me this is going to take a while…" Jiraiya sighed out. He could already feel this was enough going to give him a headache… or a new scar.

He had time to figure out what to do with Tenten and how to proceed with learning about her forms, considering she was out for a week. At first, his mind went to the Rasengan. It was based off the Fourth Hokage's research of the Tailed Beast Bomb so it would be a no brainer. However, he immediately discarded the idea.

For one, no way was he teaching her such a destructive jutsu. It was already dangerous it is and he had a feeling she would make a real Beast Bomb and that wouldn't be great for everyone's life expectancy.

Two, her chakra control isn't great and that was basically everything about mastering that jutsu.

Three, it would take a year or so, time they very much didn't have. They needed to make sure she could adequately defend herself by any means necessary by the time the news of the Akuma Braces comes out and he didn't know how long they had until an assassin, or worse, comes after her.

And finally, the Rasengan was the creator's son's inheritance. He was not going to let anyone else learn it until he received what's rightfully his.

So he went ahead and started thinking up new ways to figure out her abilities, and with his spy network's information on the various jinchuriki, it was pretty easy to create tests for Tenten to perform. Now it was time to test them out.

"Alright." Jiraiya said as he stopped and picked up the turtle girl.

"Thank yo-" Tenten managed to get out before being sent hurtling through the air. "AAAHHH! WWWWHHHHHYYYYY!?" She screamed out before landing in a near-by river.

"GAH!" Tenten grunted out as most of the impact was taken to the shell as she quickly sank to the bottom. 'I can't swim like this! I… I can't… I'm gonna drown! I'm gonna drown! I'm…'

"Not… drowning…" Tenten got out, despite logically her lungs should be full of water by now. "I… I can breathe underwater." She realized before looking at her hands and to the surface. 'Right, I'm a tortoise… So that means…' She thought before she began to swim up to the surface.

Then she noticed she was going pretty fast.

Really fast.

Too fast.

"WHOA!" Tenten called out as she burst out of the water, ending up high in the air and seeing Jiraiya smiling at her. When she landed, she created a small crater in front of the Hermit. "Ugh…"

"So, what did you learn while in your turtle form?" Jiraiya asked.

"It's… a tortoise." Tenten got before transforming back and falling unconscious.

"Nope, pretty sure it's a turtle." Jiraiya muttered out. "Hm, Tenzo. Based on your observations so far, what do you think?" He asked as the hidden ANBU appeared next to him.

"Well, she doesn't seem to be in danger of losing control, if that's what you're asking for." Tenzo answered.

"For now. But I have to reiterate that those braces may be largely untested. It's a miracle she's able to transform back at all. Let alone transform back into a normal human being rather than an amalgamation of her previous transformations." Jiraiya said.

"Those braces… they're a wonder for sure." The ANBU said.

"Yes… and I'm afraid there might be more like it." Jiraiya admitted. "If it can absorb the chakra of the Tailed Beasts, imagine all the other possibilities that something like it can do."

"…That is a scary thought." Tenzo said.

"Yeah, it is." Jiraiya sighed out. "But I should be focusing on getting her back on her feet, help her improve her chakra and such. I'll help her with her transformations if we ever get to it. You can leave now."

"Jiraiya-sama." Tenzo said before flickering away as the Sannin looked down as the unconscious girl.

"Well, may as well take advantage of the situation." Jiraiya muttered to himself as he threw her over his shoulder before flickering away.

Ugh… if he wasn't a ninja, he would totally look like a kidnapping pedophile right now. He had standards dammit.

Very low standards, mind you, but standards dammit.

(A few hours later…)

She didn't know what was happening.

She didn't know where she was, how she got here, and barely holding on to who she was. All she could feel was her body being pulled in ten different directions, feeling herself getting ripped apart.

And then… it stopped.

Suddenly, she felt warm hands massaging her, comforting her after all the pain that was inflicted on her. Like sitting by a flame on a cold night. Her muscles loosened and her mind drifted off, wanting this feeling to last forever.

And then she woke up, face down on the wood floor.

Tenten shivered a little as she felt something wet and cold on her back before feeling cloth wiping off a little bit of the excess. She could almost see the pattern forming in her head. The room was dark, so she couldn't tell if it was day or night, only the light of candles allowing her to see.

She still had the increasingly and worryingly familiar feeling of chakra exhaustion, but she could feel that it was recovering right now which soothed her. She was also getting used to the fact that she was naked somewhere that wasn't her apartment… maybe.

Hold on…

"Ya… Ah…!" Tenten started to panic as she realized she was in a dark room, naked with someone she probably didn't know drawing something on her back.

"Calm down. It's only me." Jiraiya said as he put the brush down.

"Wh-What are you doing?" Tenten breathed out as she calmed herself down.

"Take a closer look on the seals on your arms and to see if there was more." Jiraiya answered as he lifted up her right arm. "And I gotta say, I'm getting more impressed the more I look at it. How they managed to pull something off like this is beyond my imagination and skill. This should've taken centuries, not a human lifetime, to even create one of these tablets. And yet the creator made ten of these things. Maybe more."

"So… now that you had a closer look, do you think-"

"Sorry, but at this point it is fusing to your skin. I'd probably die if I tried." Jiraiya stopped Tenten before she got her hopes up too high. "I'm guessing in a couple of year's time, it'll be a part of you. Sort of like an artificial Kekkei Genkai. Plus, it isn't perfect."

"What?" Tenten got out, a rush of fear running down her spine.

"It's working for now, but all those seals on you are deteriorating. Rapidly." Jiraiya explained. "I managed to restore them and make them last longer but it's only a temporary solution. We're going to have to find the notes on how the Akuma Braces work. Problem is; the only one who possibly could've helped us with that is dead. For now, you should avoid transforming outside of training until then. Those might be speeding up the deterioration."

"What happens if they break?" Tenten was hesitant in asking that question, afraid of the answer she was going to get.

"Well, one of three things: You either die or you die… painfully." Jiraiya stated bluntly. "Or, you know, nothing at all."

"These things are getting more and more high maintenance every day…" Tenten mumbled to herself.

"Don't worry too much about it. I'll get the Hokage to add sessions with fuinjutsu experts to maintain those seals until we find those notes." Jiraiya said. "Anyway, the ink should be dry now. You can get up."

"What did you put on my back?" Tenten questioned as she sat up, covering her private parts.

"It's just a storage seal so you can have a change of clothes just in case you do transform." Jiraiya explained while he gave her a new set of clothes. "I recommend something cheap and functional. They're probably not going to last long."

"O-Okay. Um, can I go home now?" Tenten asked as she got dressed.

"Yes you can. We're going to switch our focus on your training tomorrow however." Jiraiya said. "We're still going to focus on learning about your abilities while transformed, but I'm also going to have you focus on chakra control and improving how much chakra you have. It's going to be pretty harsh for a genin, but with the time we have it'll have to do."

"Okay… this is going to be a rough week." Tenten sighed out. "But if I learned anything from Guy-sensei, is that I can always improve every second of every day."

"Good. Now get out of here before it gets late." Jiraiya said as he pointed towards the door.

"Hai, Jiraiya-sensei." Tenten replied with a nod before leaving, just in time to see the sun setting over the village. "It's going to get easier, Tenten. It's going to get easier." She told herself as she walked back home.

It was not going to get easier.

(A two week later…)

Tenten fidgeted around nervously in the Hokage's Office as she watched the Third read through the Toad Sannin's report. Jiraiya had left the village yesterday after they trained all night, allowing her to get a real grasp on her other forms. She still didn't know what the hell she was doing most of the time but at the very least she could fight decently enough.

Hopefully, it didn't have to come to it. A few weeks just wasn't enough to truly wield her forms to the fullest. From now on, she was on her own.

"…Well, after a serious amount of consideration…" The Third spoke up, causing Tenten to snap to attention as soon as she heard his voice. "…I deem you ready for active duty as a genin of Konoha once again."

Tenten could help but breathe a sigh of relief. Her heart was going to pound right out of her chest at this rate.

"Is my team out on a mission right now?" Tenten had to ask. Despite the comparatively short amount of time, she still missed the three idiots made up the best close combat rookie team in the village. Not exactly a catchy title but it was true.

"Yes, they are actually." The Hokage informed. "They were sent to a small town near the borders of the Land of Fire. There were reports of a sudden surge of bandits robbing the townspeople so they requested to send a team there and take them out. Nothing that you haven't done before."

"And when are they coming back, Hokage-sama?" Tenten asked.

"I estimate in about a week or so. However, there is something important that requires your assistance." The Hokage informed, surprising Tenten.

"E-Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but why me specifically? I'm not the greatest ninja after all." Tenten had to ask, wondering what situation would need her out of all people in the village.

"Well, it involves more with your braces than you yourself." The Hokage explained. "This mission I'm about to give you may not be the most challenging, but it is in the interest of the safety of the village and yourself that you do not disclose any detail of it to anyone."

"O-Of course, Hokage-sama. I'll never tell a soul." Tenten replied with a determined expression on her face.

"Good, because…" He then puffed his pipe as he gave Tenten a scroll. "We found a match."

"A match?" Tenten asked in confusion as she grabbed the scroll. "Wait, do you mean the guy who was holding the box with these things?" She realized.

"Yes, and that is why you will be escorted to a place forgotten by time, yet still lives on in the smallest way." The Hokage said. "You will be escorted there by two jonin to search and obtain whatever might be connected to the Akuma Braces. While there is a low possibility, it's our lead right now. All the information and other details you need are in that scroll. You must burn it as soon as you are finished."

"But… Can I ask where am I going so I can prepare?" Tenten asked.

"Yes." The Hokage said as he gave her a serious look. "This land does not exist anymore, and there is no longer a living soul there. It had a hidden village that even the best of shinobi trembled at the name before it was destroyed."

"You are going to the Land of Whirlpools. To Uzushiogakure!"

Save Game… Quit!

Yep. That's going to be a thing I have to write, and I have next to no clue what's going to happen. This is basically a story where I am just making stuff up as I go along.

UknownHero signing off, my friends!