Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Warning: OCs are in this story.
"Yosh! I hope baa-chan gives us better missions now, with our mission completed perfectly!" cheered Naruto happily, heading towards ichiraku ramen with Sakura and Sasuke.
"I wonder why Neji and Tenten didn't want to come though", pondered Sakura, walking beside Sasuke.
The journey back to Konoha from the mission went fairly well; Naruto talking rapidly now that they were safer, Sakura occasionally hitting Naruto, and everyone else traveling quietly. Except Kakashi, Sasuke, and Neji noticed that one voice was missing, Tenten's. 'Tenten' didn't talk unless Sakura asked her questions, and even then she only gave vague, sheepish replies that didn't quite answer the pink haired kunoichi's questions.
Once they reached the Hokage tower to confirm with the Hokage that they had completed the mission successfully, Kakashi had handed her the mission report that he had written the night before, before disappearing. Naruto and Sakura had invited Neji and Tenten to have ramen with them, but they both had refused. Tenten was called to stay in the room though, while the Godaime had dismissed everyone else.
Needless to say, Sasuke already had a feeling why 'Tenten' was told to stay for a bit.
"…Sasuke? Hey, are you listening, Teme?" asked Naruto, waving a hand in front of his face.
"What", asked Sasuke, irritated.
"Aww, come on, don't act like there's a stick up your ass, although there probably is one", complained the blonde ninja, receiving a lump on his head for 'insulting my Sasuke-kun'.
The Godaime will take care of it, he told himself, and with that, continued on with the rest of his normal day.
"NEJI, MY ETERNAL RIVAL! YOU HAVE RETURNED!" exclaimed an exuberant Lee, bouncing towards Neji, followed by Gai.
"NEJI, MY WONDERFUL STUDENT! WAS YOUR WONDERFUL MISION AS GLORIOUS OURS?"
Neji sighed and internally winced at their matching green spandexes. At least these two were alright.
"BUT WAIT! Where has our beautiful blossom gone to?" questioned Gai, lowering his arms from his nice guy pose.
The Hyuuga prodigy frowned. The Godaime had never said that the information was classified, and it was obvious that their team was going to figure it out soon anyways.
"Tenten is not well", informed Neji. It was true in a way; he, nor anyone else except maybe the imposter, knew where the real Tenten currently was, or if she was well or not.
Lee shook his head and sighed before suddenly perking up and announcing, "Then why don't we all go and visit our wonderful flower and cheer her up with our youth?"
"That is a most wonderful idea, my youthful student Lee! Come, Neji, Lee; let us go and encourage our lovely flower Tenten to get better!", declared Gai, taking up his nice guy pose once again.
Taking in the situation, Neji refrained from outwardly face palming. It was refreshing in a way though, having his teammates still being carefree and all. Once he realized that the two spandex clad ninjas were starting to run off towards Tenten's house, Neji began to stop them when out of nowhere; Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke, holding his little orange book in one hand, and the other flipped up in a casual, "yo".
"AHH KAKASHI, MY ETERNAL RIVAL! WHAT A WONDERFUL COINCIDENCE THIS IS! SADLY THOUGH, I AM UNABLE TO CHALLENGE YOU; I MUST GET GOING TO VISIT OUR SWEET BLOSSUM TENTEN", exclaimed Gai, sounding cheerful yet slightly depressed at the same time. But only slightly.
"Hmmm that's all fine and dandy, but the Hokage wants to see you, and I would like to speak with Neji for a moment", informed Kakashi uncaringly, casting a quick glance at Neji while saying the last part.
"EVEN WHEN ACTING AS A MESSENGER, YOU ARE SO COOL! AS EXPECTED OF MY RIVAL! LEE, I WILL BE BACK", yelled out Gai, disappearing towards the Hokage tower, leaving only a trail of dust behind.
"YOSH", saluted Lee, tears (of happiness?) falling from his eyes, "I SHALL DO 300 PUSH UPS, THEN 400 SITUPS, AND 600 KICKS AND PUNCHES UNTIL YOU RETURN! GOOD LUCK IN YOUR TALK, MY ETERNAL RIVAL NEJI!"
As Lee dropped to the ground and began his ridiculous exercise, Kakashi turned and walked away, wordlessly telling Neji to follow.
'I have a feeling I know what he's going to talk about',thought Neji.
Once the pair were further away from their original spot and under a tree, Kakashi turned around and snapping his book shut, asked, "Now, I know a ninjas mission is considered the most important thing, and quite frankly, you might not care all too much about what I am about to say, but do you know what I'm about to tell you?"
Neji nodded. Yup, he could definitely see where this was going to.
"Good, then let's get straight to the point", Kakashi continued, "I technically don't have the rights to scold you, but you have been on a mission with my team, and this is concerning the mission. When the captain gives you the orders, you follow, right?"
He didn't answer it; it was a rhetorical question anyways.
"So when I say you are assigned a pair during the mission, you should know that it means you stay as a pair until the mission ends unless the captain says otherwise, no matter how much you want to go separately right? True, splitting up would have proven to get the mission done faster, but this is a C rank bordering B rankedmission. A mission where harm can and probably will come to you. I don't doubt you and Tenten's ability to work together, but next time, remember to follow instructions and not let your comrades wander off alone into the hands of the enemy", finished Kakashi. If there's even a next time. The un-said thought lingered between the two, before Kakashi finally pulled out his book, turned around, and body flickering away without the usual puff of smoke.
He stood there for a while, going over what Kakashi had just said. It was true, he was partially at fault since he didn't even try to prevent Tenten from going off on her own, and look where that had landed them now. Sighing, he slowly paced towards training area 17, hoping it was empty. There was nothing to do now except wait for further instructions and hope that his teammate was alright.
Earlier in the Hokage office…
"Good job on your mission, Tenten", stated the Godaime absently.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama", replied Tenten respectfully.
Tsunade narrowed her eyes ever so slightly as she glanced up at the kunoichi from her pile of paper work. Judging from the times she had complimented the girl, she should have pride and admiration written all over her. Then again, this wasn't that girl. Heck, even the report said so, along with good, solid, proof. Just one more hint though…
"Tenten, you know how your birthday is September 6, also known as in a few days, so would you want to go drinking with me? It's not every day that a woman gets older you know", asked Tsunade, hiding her suspicion with enthusiasm. Deep inside though, she was silently fuming at choosing to use birthdays to confirm her suspicions.
'Calm down Tsunade, we aren't celebrating yours. Find your happy place."
"Oh, no, it's fine, Hokage-sama", she put her hands out in front and smiled, "I don't think it would be good for you to go drinking just for the sake of my birthday. Besides, it wouldn't be good for your health"
"You…"
Tenten tensed.
"ARE YOU ACUSING ME OF BEING TOO OLD TO DRINK?!", the furious blonde raged, "Ehem. Sorry for my outburst, I don't usually act this way around infiltrators."
The chocolate haired girl's eyes widened a fraction for a brief instant before she found herself with two Anbu on both sides of her and a man with silver hair and three fourths of his face covered pointing a kunai at her neck behind her.
"Kakashi-sensei? What's going on?", exclaimed the girl, surprised.
"You have been charged with infiltration of Konoha and for attacking a Konoha nin", Kakashi deadpanned.
She looked confused for a moment.
"What? I didn't attack anyone", she exclaimed indignantly, "and how do you infiltrate your own village?"
Nobody answered her except Tsunade.
"The real question is, why you infiltrated the village, how much did you find out about, and which village or organization are you from." She glowered at the brown haired girl.
"I don't-"
"Don't give me that crap; I've already had enough of it. Answer the questions or you're heading to the T and I rooms", Tsunade yelled at the sputtering girl, slamming her fist on her desk.
"But I don't know what you're talking about", she protested, unable to hold back the slight tremor of fear in her voice.
"Konoha isn't as kind as it is made out to be. This is your last chance to talk."
"No, wait, listen to me. What makes you think I'm not me?" yelled out the girl furiously, only to have the kunai pressed against her neck.
Tsunade nodded and the two Anbu and Jounin disappeared, dragging an unwilling girl with them towards the Torture and Interrogation rooms. Once alone in the office, Tsunade fished out a bottle of sake and sighed. When she thumped down the finished bottle, it was then that she saw the mail from a few days ago from the lottery company.
She had won.
Feeling a headache coming, she called for a team of Anbu to come.
'Might as well hand out one last mission before I start practicing katas on people', she thought to herself dryly.
A few moments later, Gai appeared in her office.
"HOKAGE-SAMA! I HEARD YOU HAVE CALLED FOR ME!"
Check that. She called for a headache inducing jounin to come. It's at times like these that she wished she didn't send all the Anbu out on missions. Straightening up, she looked at the spandex clad ninja in front of her.
"I trust that you already know about Tenten?"
"I heard from Neji that our little flower is not well, but that isn't all there is to it, is it, Hokage-sama", asked Gai, looking for a confirmation.
"Correct", she confirmed, "Tenten is currently MIA after being attacked by an unknown ninja. Her whereabouts are unknown, but the infiltrator is currently being questioned. I thought you should know about it, being her instructor and such. Also, could you do me a favor while you're leaving and get Team eight over here?"
"Of course, Hokage-sama. I am also very grateful that you have informed me. FEAR NOT THOUGH, OUR TENTEN WILL DEFINETLY BRAVE THROUGH ALL OBSTACLES WITH HER YOUTHFULNESS!", said Gai, yelling out the last part with such solid trust and assurance that Tsunade couldn't help but smile at.
With that said, he bounded out of the office in search of Team eight, but not before dropping off a kunai, presumably Tenten's on the desk. A few minutes later, a knock was heard on the door. Telling them to come in, she saw Shizune enter and greet her a good afternoon, afterwards dropping off a stack of paper before leaving. After grouchily staring at the paper for a few more minutes, a she heard a knock on the door again. Repeating the process, the door opened and in stepped team eight.
"Alright! A mission", cheered Kiba, Akamaru barking enthusiastically in agreement.
The other boy in the high collared coat and sunglasses looked pointedly at Kiba, causing the two of them to shut up while the hyuga heiress smiled slightly at her teammates antics.
Kurenai, the squad leader stepped up and bowed slightly towards her.
"Hokage-sama", the genjutsu expert said respectfully, closely followed by hinata. Shino inclined his head forwards a bit while Kiba and Akamaru waved. Or wagged in Akamaru's case.
"Team eight. It's good to see you all in high spirits. You will be taking a B rank mission; I trust you can handle that?"
"Who do you think we are", snorted the Inuzuka.
"Um… what Kiba-kun m-meant to say i-is that we can h-handle it", corrected Hinata timidly.
Shino nodded, and then the three of them turned to look at their instructor. Sighing, she gave in.
"If I may ask, what's the mission", questioned Kurenai.
"Your second B rank mission: search and, if possible, retrieve. Mission is around two to three weeks. Area of reconnaissance is North-Western borders of the Fire Country, near Kusagakure mainly. Objective of the search and mission is Tenten and information on any one to six member groups that have members with fire and water affinities. Do you accept", finished the Godaime.
"WHAT? TENTEN? WE'RE LOOKING FOR TENTEN? HOW THE HELL DID- WHAT HAPPENED?" exclaimed Kiba, surprised and angry.
The rest of the team seemed equally as shocked; Hinata had widened her eyes and started fidgeting, Shino had narrowed his eyes and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, and Kurenai's facial features turned slightly worried.
"Kiba, Shino, Hinata, do you think you're ready for this mission", asked Kurenai, worriedly.
"HELL YES, NO ONE TAKES ONE OF OUR COMRADES AND GETS AWAY WITH IT", agreed Kiba passionately.
"I-I agree with K-Kiba-kun", stuttered Hinata, though a determined look spread on her face.
"Yes", was Shino's simple, but determined reply.
"Okay, team eight accepts", the genjutsu expert agreed, slightly reluctant.
Tsunade nodded.
"You can leave for your mission tomorrow morning; take this time to pack and ask questions. Beware of people from the hidden sound, hidden cloud and anyone wearing cloaks with red clouds. Stay cautious if you happen upon any Kusa or any other ninja. Also, make sure you stay and travel as a group. Do NOT let any one of your team go off alone during this mission. As for Kiba's question, she disappeared after separating from her group", she informed them.
After they left, Kiba chatting furiously about how Tenten of all people could get kidnapped and that the perpetrators were stupid assholes, Tsunade let her head fall into her open hands, massaging the side of her head. She really didn't want to send out a genin team for a B ranked mission, but they were the best stealth team currently in Konoha; any less and the mission would have higher chance of failure.
Sighing, she took out yet another jug of sake and chugging it, attempted to wash away her worries.
'At times like these, I seriously wish I wasn't Hokage',she thought, serious about it for once.
He woke to himself bound to a chair in the center of a room. Standing in front of him was a large, bulky figure, with scars on his face. The shadows from the light cast onto his face gave an intimidating and imposing look to the already strict looking man. He was glad the light was rather dim though; bright lights would have killed his eyes and his genjutsu would have fallen apart.
'Judging from his posture and looks, I'm assuming he is a ninja who highly follows rules and commandments. Most likely a highly experienced ninja, and probably is the type to get straight to the point, otherwise he… he wouldn't be standing in front of me in Konoha's T and I department…',he analyzed, refraining from gulping once he realized what position he was in.
"You're awake at last. We didn't want to bother any Yamanakas unless you got particularly stubborn, but the point is, you will give us answers either way", the scarred man deadpanned.
He looked straight at his interrogator, challenging him, fully aware of his slowly rising panic.
Responding with a look of his own, he began, "What is your real name and village?"
'I'll tell them what they need, I have to stay alive to find out why and who attacked, and I will not be subjected to dying here.'
"Riyu, Kusagakure."
"Family name?"
"Tekutsu", he lied smoothly. Ibiki frowned but didn't question him any further.
"State your reason for infiltrating Konoha and attacking a Konoha nin."
His mind whirred, searching for a plausible excuse in the few seconds that he had before being required to reply.
"The ninja, Tenten, was holding a kunai so I thought she was about to attack me when I woke from being unconscious after the Kusagakure attack. I took her spot and entered Konoha because I wanted to know more about the attack when I heard that her group's mission was to find out about the attack", he replied, changing his facial expression slightly to fit his feelings about the explanation.
Ibiki scrutinized him before turning around and exiting the room, leaving Riyu alone there again.
'Hah, Konoha shinobi are so freaking easy to lie to. You can make them believe anything',he thought triumphantly.
'That's only because you added in a bit of your family jutsu to help you',whispered another voice in the back of his head.
'It's no longer the family technique; it's my technique. In case you haven't noticed, I'm the only one left',he snapped at himself, feeling foolish afterwards. He was arguing with himself over something as trivial as this. A few moments later, the door creaked open again, and in stepped the person from before.
"The Godaime has decreed that you may leave this village a year after the ninja you attacked is found. During this time you will have surveillance twenty four-seven in one way or another. If the Tenten is found dead, you will be executed. If she is seriously harmed, you will take full responsibility. Also, take off your disguise, it's repulsing to see an enemy pose as a comrade, much less a male pretending to be female", he told him in perfect monotone.
Doing a quick 'kai', the bindings fell and the same two anbu from before escorted him out, disappearing once outside of the building. Relived to be outside, it was only now that he realized how lucky he was to not have received torture of any kind while being questioned.
Strolling over to a bench under the shade of a tree, he let his calm façade from inside the room slip and fall. Sighing, he plopped down onto the seat and buried his face in his hands.
"What have I gotten myself into", he moaned to no one in particular. He wished his cousin was with him now. He knew that his cousin was most probably the only one other than him who was still alive. Now if only he could somehow find him…
"Tenten?"
Riyu looked up towards the voice. In front of him stood a blonde haired girl with bangs hanging in front of one eye and a short ponytail behind her.
"Ah, hey", he replied, smiling.
"You alright? You seem kinda, check that, reallydown. I wouldn't blame you though, having two teammates that scream 'youth' every ten seconds", she said, nodding sagely.
'She seems a bit younger than me, carefree and has lots of confidence in herself. Probably is acquainted or friends with Tenten, and is a ninja. '
"No worries, I'm great, really. So, how's your team been?" Riyu asked, changing the topic.
"My team? Eh, we're good; same old, same old. Shikamaru's still being as lazy as ever and Choji just wants to go to the barbeque even if all we completed is a boring D rank mission. Asuma-sensei on the other hand", she giggled, "I think is starting to like Kurenai-sensei. I mean, I've seen them walking together to discuss casual, non work related stuff."
Stopping from her giggles, she straightened up and looked at Tenten, or, Riyu.
"So what's up with you?"
"Err, yeah, the same stuff. We just came back from a joint mission with team seven", he said.
The blonde girl gasped.
"You went on a joint mission with Sasuke-kun? Luckyyy! Sasuke-kun is such a good guy; luck must be on your side to have given you a mission with him! I mean-"
As the girl continued to ramble, Riyu added another point to her list.
'Fangirl. Damn, I wish I had to exchange places with a dude instead. I don't really feel like listening to some useless rant.'
Meanwhile, two boys walked over to them.
"Come on, Ino. As troublesome as it is, we have to go get a mission now", stated the slouched boy lazily. Probably Shikamaru, which meant the other, was Choji.
"Ah, right. See ya later Tenten", exclaimed Ino, waving before bounding off towards the Hokage tower, as Shikamaru and Choji followed after her.
"Yea, see you, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji", he waved back.
Riyu watched them go, and then slumped back on the bench. He closed his eyes and sighed dejectedly. Here he was, being all friendly with the villagers of one of his attackers. Dammit, he even got so careless that they figured him out. Even with all the precautions he took.
'I guess nothing can slip through the Byakugan in the end. On an off note, I guess I did okay staying inconspicuous for so long with all the lies I had to make up on the spot and all',he pointed out to herself.
Leaning backwards, he opened his eyes and let out another sigh. It doesn't really matter who he socializes with in the end anyways, as long as he could get answers. It's underhanded, but if he could just find who is precious to him and kill or lure him out through his precious person… of course, he had to find out exactly who did attacked to begin with. Or at least find out why this person killed off the entire village.
Really though, there's no reason for some stranger to attack the entire village. The only major thing that he could think about that his village did was hide one of Orochimaru's bases in their village; but even that shouldn't result in the entire village being massacred.
'Just thinking won't do me any good. I might as well go and find a place to live in for now. Wait.'
"DAMMIT YOU CAN'T JUST KEEP ME HERE WITHOUT FOOD OR SHELTER OR MONEY", he yelled out, hoping for some divine miracle to appear suddenly with what he needed.
"Tenten-san! Is something wrong", asked a spandex clad boy with a bowl cut and large eyebrows.
"GAH DON'T RANDOMLY POP UP IN FRONT OF ME", exclaimed Riyu surprised, causing him to have a brief spasm.
"My apologies for startling you, Tenten-san. My youth must not be at its best right now", he sighed. "Anyways, do you require help?"
"Yeah… I was wondering if I could find my house and my teammates. I kinda forgot 'cause some stuff happened during a mission", he stated, acting sheepish.
"DO NOT WORRY! I SHALL GUIDE YOU TO YOUR HOME AND TEAMMATES. Well, actually I don't quite know where your home is at the moment, but with the springtime of youth filled inside of us, WE SHALL FIND OUT", declared the boy, a determined smile spreading across his face.
He didn't know if it was his imagination or not, but he could've sworn the boy's smile had turned sad for a moment.
"Yea, thanks a bunch…?"
"I AM THE WONDERFUL GREEN BEAST OF KONOHA, ROCK LEE", he exclaimed, giving him a thumbs up and a sparkle on his teeth.
"Lee-san. So, onwards to my home?"
"FOLLOW ME!", called out Lee, taking off towards the road.
By the time Riyu caught up with Lee, he was panting. He had never been so thankful that he had done all those extra training sessions his father had insisted on. He really was better at traps than physical stuff. Reaching up to touch his ear, it was then that he realized that he had henge'd the earring as well since the girl, Tenten, didn't have one.
"Is… Is this my home? Thanks", he thanked him.
"I am just glad to be able to help. Also, if you want to find your teammates, go to training area 17 tomorrow at seven AM. NOW I AM OFF TO TRAIN! I HOPE YOU HAVE A YOUTHFUL DAY!"
And with that, he left, leaving Riyu inwardly gapping at the dust trails of eccentric boy.
'Come now, Riyu, don't get too involved with them',he mentally scolded himself.
'But if I want to find out about him and them, I should get more acquaintances to help me',a voice argued.
'Yes, but these people probably are acquaintances with him',he reasoned back.
'Stop making stupid excuses. You know there's no point in creating them',persuaded the voice.
'Tch if he didn't attack the village this wouldn't have happened to begin with anyways.'
'Now now, don't go all angst like and emo on me.'
'…Screw you.'
And with that, he entered into the apartment and slammed the door, signaling the end of his internal conversation.
A/N: Oh, I don't know. Still can't find those plans. I'm editing chapters that I already have, though. Hopefully this will turn out alright. I just seem to feel like this chapter failed though. Sorry readers T-T Also, I found the planning sheet so now it won't be next year y the time the next update arrives. Thanks for reading :D