Tenten

Neji had returned. He wasn't really successful since these were new grounds. I don't blame him. But since I kinda knew this village, I think I'd have a better time finding the girl. The difference between Neji and I is that he prefers to span out covering as much ground as possible. But he forgets that not everyone has the byakugan like him. I led my group to different sections of the village, each of us thoroughly checking every alleyway, hole in the wall, a and street corner. Jun hadn't picked up any traces of chakra yet. But we continued on.

"Anything, Captain?" Neji's voice sounded in my left ear.

"Not yet. But we're looking." I mumbled, earning a sigh from him.

I couldn't help but chuckle. He usually had no issues with these kinds of missions. He's probably aggravated that it took him more then a few hours to search the place and come up empty handed.

"Captain."

"Jun?"

"I feel chakra."

I jumped from my rooftop and found him with Naruto and Sasuke. I questioned the position of my sensei. He responded in my ear saying that he moved onto the gates, questioning the guards. I shrugged. I looked at Jun as he pointed in the direction of the square. Didn't we look there? We followed him in the dark, trying to be a silent as possible. Behind my mask, I mentally rolled my eyes at the thought of Naruto charging head first and jumping the prior girl. We stopped at the square and looked around.

"Where Jun?" I asked quietly.

He pointed to a column in the center of the area. I glanced over. There was a girl, with black hair hugging her knees. She sat against the column. She looked a bit younger than she did in the photo.

"She's using chakra to alter her appearance. But that is her." Sasuke said softly next to me.

I took a step forward and removed my mask. I handed it to Naruto and told the boys to stand back. I also removed my headband, which caused Jun to question me. I explained that if she saw those she'd think I was trying to kill her and run. The boys kept quiet as I slowly approached the girl. The girl's eyes shifted upward, gazing at me in shock. I stopped, waiting to see if she'd run. But she didn't. Here eyes scanned me curiously. I took a step closer;

Then another.

Then another.

She shifted suddenly which caused me to stop. I put my arm out so the boys knew not to approach, just in case she tried to attack. I kept my face calm, taking a deep breath. Since I had no idea what this girl was capable of, the only thing I can do is hope she is running out of chakra.

"Captain, did you find the target?"

"Dammit Neji not now! I'm working here!" I hissed into the microphone.

There was a shocked grunt in my ear as Sasuke answered Neji. I took another step closer, about a meter away from the girl. She still had her eyes on me. I crouched down to her level and put out my hand.

"Hi," I said.

She continued to look at me, pushing herself against the column.

"I've been looking for you." I said softly.

Something flashes in her eyes. I have to remember that she's my age. Her jutsu put her in a younger girls body. But that flash, and her mannerisms weren't of a nineteen year old. She acted like a scared child. Maybe Orochimaru did something to her that caused her mental development to stop.

"Are you one of them?"

I blinked.

"What do you-"

"Are you here to kill me too? Like the rest of them?" She whispered and tear running down her cheek.

I shook my head.

"No, I'm not. I'm here to help you." I replied.

"How can you possibly do that? You don't know me. You don't know what I've done!" She exclaimed and bursts into sobs.

"Sweetie, I don't need to know."

She looked up at me.

"Long ago a best friend of mine ran from home. He said no good byes, did not say where he was running to. But we scattered around, looking for him desperately. We have had heard of all the villages he had put in danger, all of the people he killed..." I could hear Sasuke suck his teeth behind me.

The girl looked at me. I smiled.

"...but that didn't matter to us. We still looked for him. And when we found him...he came back to us. And we still remained friends, no matter how many people he killed. He wasn't a monster to us, he was our friend."

The girl wiped her eyes and looked at me full faced. Dirt was smudged along her pale cheeks due to the tears, her clothing was ripped and tattered.

"They did. And for that I am grateful they did not kill me for such foolish behavior." Sasuke appeared next to me. The girl looked at him.

"Uchiha Sasuke..." She whispered.

"Come, we were sent to help you. We want to make sure nothing bad happens to you." I said, my hand still outstretched.

The girl slowly walked toward me, her feet carried her swaying body. But I continued to look her in the face to show I have nothing to hide. Her hand slipped into mine and I introduced myself.

"My name is Tenten."

Sasuke

I knocked on the door. Kakashi answered it and moved aside to let us in. Tenten was carrying the girl on our back. She had fallen asleep on the way, I didn't get a chance to put any genjutsu on her. The Hyuga walked over to her and lifted the girl's sleeve. There it was, the snake mark on her arm. Tenten set her down on the ground and placed the girl's head on her lap.

"How did you find her?" Yuzuki asked.

"Jun did. He found chakra traces and led us right to her." Naruto explained.

"Neji, Let's report to Raikage before we leave." Tenten said quietly as she stroked the girl's black hair.

Hyuga nodded. We're calling it a night then? Works for me. Gai and Kakashi walked over to the girl in Tenten's arms. They asked her how we managed to get her to come with us. She told them that she had to speak to her as if she was a child. Her theory was that her physical nature had matured, but her mental one came to a halt. Kakashi sighed and went back to reading his book.

"She'll be out until I wake her." Tenten said to the room.

Hyuga stood and activated his byakugan. He scanned the girl, his face remaining emotionless.

"I will stay in the room with you tonight. Just in case. The rest of you are dismissed for rest. I will wake you when we are ready." He announced.

We nodded and made our way to our rooms. I looked at the ceiling as Naruto, Lee, and cousin Hyuga got the bed spreads out. That was too easy. How is it that we found her so easily? She is Orochimaru's niece for Kami's sake! There is no way in hell this mission took less than at least a week. I sat in my spot and rested my cheek in my palm. And the Raikage knew where she was. It's unusual for him to wait to take any action, especially for an S-ranked bounty. He could have sent his shinobi after her and had her shipped to us, or just keep her here. I wonder what Tsunade said to him in order for him to hold back any action.

"It is weird." Naruto agreed.

"It does not seem like The Raikage's style. Yes, I agree with you, Sasuke-kun." Bushy Brow chirped.

Jun shrugged. He doesn't go outside his village much.

"But we do get lucky a lot." Lee commented.

I looked at him. He gave a ridiculous response saying that they were blessed by Kami when Hyuga went ANBU. Once that happen Tenten and Lee became Jonnin and moved up easily. Because of this "blessing" they have kept a grand streak of no failures since making ANBU.

"I highly doubt it's luck, Lee-san." Jun retorted.

"Oh man that's so cool! You guys really are awesome!" Naruto exclaimed.

"You two are idiots..." I grumbled.

We slept soundly after a few rounds of "you're an idiot" and "you're a bastard", which isn't new between me and Naruto. I didn't notice any alarming movements from Tenten or Sakura's room, which is good. But when morning did come, it was Sakura who gave us the wake up call and threw us towels to go bathe. After that we ate and headed up to Raikage's mountain. Tenten had bought the girl some new clothes for traveling. She stayed quiet, the kid. But I have to remind myself that she's Tenten's age and not ten.

Standing before the Raikage, the girl had grabbed a hold of both Tenten and me. She didn't say a word, and didn't look at the man as he spoke to Hyuga. I kind of felt bad for the guy though. Raikage was really giving it to him even though we found her. Poor bastard was getting yelled at for doing his job.

"Make sure you tell your Hokage to keep better track if her ninja." He bellowed.

"Yes... Raikage-sama." Hyuga bowed.

He dismissed us and we set off to the gates. The girl hadn't let go of me or Tenten since we left the mountain. Yuzuki patted me on the shoulder. Alright here goes. Took the girl by the shoulders and made her look at me. Activating my Sharingan, I casted a genjutsu that made her see nothing but forest. She will not notice if we make any turns, just the back to Tenten's head, and the feeling of movement. At night, Yuzuki coated a thick layer of darkness over her eyes to force her to sleep. I rested, but didn't sleep. I felt a bit uneasy that this girl was with us. Tenten was cooing her like a child. She held the brat tightly in her arms and hummed to her. I sucked my teeth. Tenten was treating the nineteen year old kin of a destructive traitor, like her own baby of the heavens. Is she blind? This girl could have abilities even Orochimaru didn't.

"Sasuke, if you keep glaring like that, your face will get wrinkles."

I rolled my eyes and I crawled over to her. She sat cross legged on the grass with the girl's head against her lap. I came up next to her and kissed her cheek. Tenten smiled and turned her head to face me.

"What's the matter? You haven't glared like that at me since I joked about you and Naruto way back when." She said.

I gently held her cheeks in my palms and pressed my lips against hers. I leaned leaned over more and cracked an eye open. Hyuga had woken up, he was giving me a death glare. I ran my fingers up toward her hair, oh yeah, this will piss him off. I tugged on her hair ties until her brown hair pooled over her shoulder, waves danced down to her waist. She pulled away and pouted at me.

"You do realize we are still on a mission?" She whispered.

"Yeah." I replied.

"Can't you wait?"

"Hmmm I just enjoy teasing."

Tenten rolled her eyes and took her hair ties from me.

"Hey, I wanted to ask you something though."

She grunted to show she was listening. I took a deep breath and prepared for the water works. I glanced over at Hyuga who, looked away and covered his ears.

How nice of him.