SPOILERS: Naruto chapter 559, beyond the current Naruto Shippūden (episode 239).

NOTES: For my entry into the deviantart ShinoxTentenFC's ShinoTenten 100 Themes contest, I picked the theme "33%." I was planning on this being a two-chapter story with enough substance to make it more than pure fluff, but Tenten and Shino had other ideas. I just kept writing until they were done with me and ended up with a four-chapter story. I hope you all don't mind!

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Naruto.

TAKING CHANCES

Chapter 2

He looked sharp.

Opening her door to his firm knock, she found an almost unrecognizably exposed Shino. Although the long overcoat was still there, the hood was down, and the jacket underneath had been replaced with a dark, olive-green Tang suit of silk embroidered with complimenting olive-green thread and fastened with elaborately scrolled, rich-brown, silk-cord frogs and finely carved, cherry-wood toggles. Despite the subdued colors, it was garment that spoke of wealth and luxury and was meant to impress. It also went wonderfully with his skin, making him look less wan than the almost-black he usually wore. Even though it didn't cover half of his face like his customary jacket did, the high collar that hid his throat still managed to strongly convey the impression of "Aburame."

She hadn't seen this much of him since he'd become a chūnin and started wearing that concealing under jacket along with the overcoat typical of his clan. So she had every intention of enjoying her shallow, indulgent, visual inventory of his features. His nose was just as aristocratic and straight as she'd remembered, but it had grown with his face to balance off his broad cheekbones and the strong line of his now manly jaw. His hair still stood up from his head—dark, straight, and straw-stiff—but she had completely forgotten about the tempting imbalance of his lips. His wide mouth was graced with a regular upper lip and an enticingly full lower lip that made her wonder what it would be like to nibble. Was it fuller because of his childhood propensity for pouting?

She must have been gaping too long because he shifted and tucked his chin slightly. "Is there something on my face?" His voice was a combination of trepidation and amusement.

With a grin, she shook her head and closed her apartment door behind her. "Nice threads, Shino."

"You are looking especially nice, yourself."

The expensive, burgundy cheongsam had been a post-war impulse buy. It had been a gargantuan shock when her team had returned from a mission to find their village had become a crater of rubble. Although most of the people had survived, like many, all of her possessions had been lost along with the boarding house where she'd stayed. After months of having only two outfits—the clothes she'd been wearing and a standard, Konoha, chūnin uniform—she'd seen the pretty thing hanging in a newly opened shop window, and it had called irresistibly to the girly girl inside her who had been ignored for too long. The design was similar to the pink one she'd loved to death as a genin, but the more sophisticated colors of this one, with its gold piping and frogs enhancing the lush fabric, made her feel both feminine and mature.

Of course, after she'd gotten the lovely little cheongsam home, she'd realized her chances of ever needing it were slim, but she'd refused to return it, in the hopes she would someday have an excuse to wear it. So it had hung for the better part of a year, all but forgotten in her half-empty closet, until the day it was needed finally arrived. Fortunately, they'd returned from yesterday's mission early enough, so before the shops had closed, she'd just managed to find a pair of loose, yellow pants that almost matched the trim. To finish off the look, she'd taken her hair down from its martially prudent buns and held the sides back with a beautiful gold and red enameled barrette that had been given as a gift of thanks when she'd saved a merchant from bandits during a convoy assignment.

She knew she'd probably never looked better, but she blushed at his words all the same. Compliments on her aim and endurance and mission success rate she was used to, but the only guy who'd ever complimented her looks was her master, who associated determination and valor and loyalty and countless other virtues with beauty.

To her surprise, Shino seemed to stiffen in response to her reddening cheeks. "I would never suggest you don't normally look nice. Why? Because you are fetching no matter what you wear." He coughed. "What I mean is-"

Resisting the urge to grin at his awkwardness, she stepped close enough that she could smell that rich, earthy scent that emanated from him, a combination of cedar and expensive incense. This invasion of his personal space caused him to gulp down whatever else he was going to say, though he didn't step back. "So where are you planning on taking me?"

He closed his mouth and swallowed as the tiniest hint of pink colored his face. She could think of several reasons for such a reaction—embarrassment over his perceived social gaffe or her rescuing him from making it worse, discomfort over having the invisible boundary between himself and others breached, the reminder that they were on a date—but she chose to flatter herself by assuming it was a reaction to her, as opposed to just anyone, being so close while wearing her form-fitting little cheongsam.

At last, he raised an arm to gesture to the north. "This way, if you please."

To her knowledge, only five tea shops had reopened in Konoha, and none of them were north of her apartment. "Really?"

As though reading her mind, he nodded. "It is an older establishment."

He let her set the pace as they made their way through a residential area, past new houses with summer flowers blooming in window boxes and cats napping on sunny walls. Although the Yamanakas, who sold flowers and plants when not involved in espionage, had been working hard for the past year, there were still few trees in Konoha, and most of those were saplings. So it was a pleasant surprise to run across a block lined with young trees, their leaves translucent in the sun. For some reason, she found the sight uplifting, the vigor of the trees reminding her of the enduring strength of their village.

"I didn't even know this was here." Her happiness was came through in her tone.

"I'm glad you like it."

She turned to him with a laugh. "You make it sound like you planned it."

"While I did not plan or plant the trees, I came across this street one day when going to visit Kiba and found it pleasing." Turning his face to her, she caught the slightest smile on those distracting lips. "I thought you might enjoy it, too."

Intentionally breaching the bubble of distance that separated him from the world, she rested her hand briefly on his arm. "Thanks."

"It is nothing." His quiet voice was almost hushed, as though her gesture had somehow humbled him. Then he cleared his throat. "I believe it is customary to ask questions of personal preference as a means of getting to better know one another."

Although she let her hand fall from his arm, she remained close to him. "You mean like, 'What's your favorite color?'"

He nodded. "Mine is green. But I was thinking along the lines of something less general." Focusing his attention to the road, he guided them along a right-hand fork. "Do you have a favorite weapon?"

She couldn't help grinning at the appropriateness of the question, yet none of her other dates had ever asked her that. "Do you mean a favorite type or a specific, individual weapon?"

"Both, if you do not mind."

"Sure, but there is one thing I do mind the tiniest bit." Although it might not be obvious to the casual observer, she could tell her proximity made him uneasy, but when she shifted away, he shifted with her. It made her smile and decide to stay close. Besides, then she got to catch whiffs of his wonderful scent. "You don't have to be so formal with me, Shino. You don't need to be all 'if you don't mind' and 'if you please.'"

He took it well, with only a minor increase to his usually creased brow. "I want to be especially polite to adequately convey my regard for you joining me for tea."

"It's actually pretty easy to tell if you're being rude, but as off-putting as rudeness is, being overly polite can be, too." She clasped her hands behind her back and gave a shrug. "It can make a girl think you're not comfortable around her."

Frowning outright, he tucked his chin, as though forgetting that it wouldn't hide his expression like it would if he was wearing his regular outfit. "To be honest, I am not wholly comfortable. I prefer situations with more predictable outcomes."

She failed to repress a giggle as she gave him a mockingly thoughtful look. "I would never have guessed that of you." When that luscious lower lip of his pushed out into a pout, she touched his arm again. "I'm nervous, too. We're both used to the chances we take as shinobi, but this..." Letting go of his arm, she laughed at herself. "I feel like a genin, and with that in mind, I keep telling myself mistakes are to be expected." She clasped her hands behind her back again so she wouldn't fidget. "No one's life is on the line if we do something wrong, so let's not make a big deal about it when we do."

Drawing in a deep breath through her nose and letting it out through her mouth in the soothing manner her master had taught her years ago, she swallowed the anxious lump in her throat. "I apologize if I said something that bothered you. I tend to tease when I'm nervous...well, especially when I'm nervous."

He pulled his hands from his pockets and held them up, as though to hold back her concerns. "There is no need to apologize for expressing your preferences." Letting his hands fall to his sides, his lips quirked upward and he shook his head. "Kiba has worked long and hard to make me less thin-skinned, but it would appear I need to expand the contexts of his lessons to include young ladies accompanying me to tea." He gave her a bow-like nod. "I appreciate your explanation. It helps me keep things in perspective."

His words settled the jittery flutter in her gut better than any breathing exercise, and she let the spark of warmth they caused her show in her smile. "Sure." Since that was settled, she decided to go back to the original topic. "As to my favorite type of weapon, it's completely conditional. Every weapon has a situation it's best used for—shuriken for close-quarter distraction, heavier kunai for ranged diversion, three-segmented-spears for combat with a larger opponent so you can keep your distance or tuck in close if they decide to grab it...the list goes on and on. But I do have a favorite, specific weapon. The kunai I became a chūnin with is like my lucky charm. I carry it with me everywhere." Realizing she was babbling about one of her favorite topics, she stopped talking and became aware of that feeling of having his full, concentrated attention.

His head was tilted down, and she felt a blush creep up her cheeks as it became apparent he was checking her out. "Everywhere?"

It would be impossible to hide anything as bulky as a kunai under her cheongsam; the same went for the scrolls she normally carried her weapons in. That logically left her hair or her pants. She cleared her throat, and what she believed was his gaze—it was impossible to be sure with him wearing those goggles all the time—returned to her face as his chin snapped upward. He blushed furiously.

With hooded eyes she asked in a seductive whisper, "Want to know where I keep it?" Then she had to grab his arm and give him a yank so he didn't walk into a power pole. She had never guessed the ever-serious Aburame could be this amusing, and a part of her preened at the idea she could distract him so completely. In her normal voice, she added, "It's no place improper. Want to see?"

He swallowed and nodded.

Letting him go, she lifted up the hem of her cheongsam to reveal one of her masterpieces. She wasn't just an expert of weapons but also of sealing inanimate objects, and the thin ribbon held by loops of thread along the inside of her hem was one of her favorite inventions. "It's this one right here," she explained, running her finger over the first seal on the ribbon.

"Astounding." He stopped and faced her fully, bending down and leaning close to get a better look, surrounding her with that lovely smell of his. "How many does it hold?"

"Sixty three." It had taken a lot of practice and a rare, super-thin brush she'd bought in Kaze to manage the pinkie-nail sized seals. It would have been sixty five, but while she was making it a drop of sweat had blotted out one and a sneeze had turned another into a garbled mess.

Straightening, he began walking again, but his head remained turned in her direction. "What gave you the idea?"

"It was kind of a bunch of things piling up in my mind." The only ones she'd shown her ribbon to were her team, and while they had praised her for her ingenuity and skill, none of them had asked her how she'd come up with it. For some reason, it pleased her immensely that Shino was interested. "I've always remembered this picture of Lady Mito, the first Hokage's wife, from history class at the Academy. She seemed so regal and powerful and everything a kunoichi should be, and she wore paper seals as hair ornaments. And there was this guy I saw during the war who had seal earrings. And I'd been experimenting with miniaturizing explosive tags to fit on buttons and coins and-"

"Coins?"

She smirked. "Nothing a greedy thief is more inclined to grab than a dropped coin." Following him down another fork in the road, she had to turn her attention to her feet as they began climbing a rough set of log steps set in a dirt path leading toward the northeast side of the wall that surrounded Konoha. They were close to the boundary of their village's destruction zone. "So then I was shopping for hair stuff with Neji-"

Shino gave a sputtering cough, and she gave him a suspicious look. "What?"

"I apologize." His attention also seemed to be on his footing as the incline grew steeper. "My clan prefers shorter hair for men. For some reason, I found the thought of Neji shopping for hair accessories amusing."

"Huh." The Hyūgas tended toward long hair for both genders, and long hair on men wasn't uncommon for the other great clan of Konoha, the Akimichis. She rolled her eyes at Shino's unexpected bias. "Well, it's not like all that gorgeous Hyūga hair holds itself back, and there are countless men and women who envy it."

"But not you." He said it blandly and wasn't looking at her, so she wasn't completely sure what to make of his comment.

"Huh?"

"Yours is so lovely, I would not think to count you among those envious of Hyūga hair."

She blushed and laughed. "I'd never have pegged you for a smooth talker, Shino. You sure know how to make a gal feel good about herself."

That got him to stiffen up, but he shrugged. "I was being sincere, but I am glad you approve." They had moved past the destruction zone, and as he ducked under a branch, he glanced at her. "So you were shopping for hair products with Neji and...?"

"Oh right! So I saw this painted hair ribbon imported from Nami." After catching herself absently fingering the ribbon beneath her hem, she pulled her hand away to make an ah-ha gesture. "Then it all clicked, how a ribbon is like a tiny, narrow, fabric scroll. I thought, if I could paint a seal on a ribbon, then I could carry weapons with me no matter what I had to wear, not that I go undercover often."

"So that is why you wear your hair in buns."

"Huh?" She didn't follow how her ribbon scroll and hair were connected.

Raising a hand near his head, he made a swirling motion. "Lady Mito had hair buns."

Her jaw dropped. She'd heard about and even witnessed some of the intuitive leaps Shino's keen, analytical mind was capable of, but not even her genius Hyūga teammate had ever guessed why she wore her hair in the practical but unfashionable the way she did. Perhaps no one else had ever been curious enough to wonder about it. "Yeah," she murmured, feeling suddenly shy.

"Lady Mito was a remarkable woman, worthy of admiration." There was an I-approve-of-your-choice quality to his voice she didn't fancy, but he distracted her with another little surprise. "Did you know she was from the same clan as Naruto?"

"What?"

Standing aside to let her pass first through a narrow, he nodded thoughtfully. "Lady Mito's surname was Uzumaki. She was from Whirlpool. Konoha's ancient connection to that lost village is the reason chūnin vests have a spiral on the back."

"Really?" Why had she never come across that when she'd done a report on Lady Mito?

"Despite his poor skills at the Academy, I had never understood why a descendant from Lady Mito's clan would be treated with as much animosity as Naruto was. When we were told he was a jinchūriki, it finally made sense." Shino's tone made her wonder if he empathized with what it was like for Naruto to have shared his body with a deadly, reviled power since birth. Perhaps it explained Shino's deep consideration of someone he seldom worked with.

"Were you ever picked on like Naruto?" She wanted to kick herself for asking something so personal so soon, but Shino just shrugged it off.

"Occasionally by older boys, but most were too afraid to dare it." He chuckled darkly. "Those would-be bullies who were not afraid soon learned to be, but mostly no one noticed I was there. I was always the guy no one remembered the name of."

Boy, could she relate to that! "Being an orphan can have the same effect. Until my senior year, when I became the tallest girl in class and started winning all the marksmanship competitions, no one remembered my name."

"I always remembered your name."

His simple statement was surprisingly revealing, and it caused her pulse to pick up a notch as they stepped into a small clearing along the fringe of old growth that clung to the northeastern wall.

"We are here."

She had always found it charming, the way he tended to state the obvious and announce the unnecessary. In front of them was a quaint little shop that looked like a cross between an inn and a shrine. Few buildings had survived the attack that had devastated their village, but the weathered shake siding suggested it had been there a long time. She'd never heard of it, not that it had a sign.

"Lord Shino, honored guest." A salt-and-pepper haired woman in a kimono greeted them with a bow from the front door. "The Sunset room is available, if you'd like."

Shino nodded. "That would be fine."

The woman led them into an airy entry with massive wooden beams holding up the tile roof. They exchanged their sandals for slippers and made their way down a polished, wood-floor hall walled almost completely by shōji screens. At the end of the hall, the woman knelt and pulled one of the screens aside. The room it revealed was open to the southwest with a magnificent view of Konoha and Kage Mountain. Tenten could only imagine the sunset view was spectacular. The room, itself, was spacious for just two people—heck, it was at least half the size of her apartment! When Shino had asked her to tea, she'd been expecting a bustling little place in town, not this elegant, expensive, exclusive shop.

Their hostess arranged two floor cushions near the open screens that lead to the veranda and view. Beside the cushions, closest to the door, she placed a small, polished, log-slab table. Then she returned to the hall and knelt again. "The usual for you, Lord Shino?"

He nodded as he removed his slippers and entered the room. "And whatever is in season."

"As you wish." Once Tenten was inside, the hostess closed the screen and could be heard shuffling down the hall to fulfill their order.

Despite the size of the room, Tenten felt suddenly self conscious about the intimacy of the place. Sure, they'd been alone together since the minute she'd opened her door, but the privacy the three walls offered, combined with the romantic setting, gave her a sense of seriousness she'd managed to avoid until then. She had known Shino was only interested in a potentially permanent relationship, and apparently he was pulling out all the stops to make a good first impression. Problem was, she was a bit too impressed, though she did her best to master that feeling as she settled on the cushion beside him.

With his regal profile and flawless posture that contrasted with the slight slouch he usually had while standing, he cut a very fine figure, like he was born to be a patron of such a place. Even with her underused infiltration skills that let her pretend to be whomever she needed to for missions, she wondered if she could ever make a suitable match for an heir.

"If you would prefer another venue..." His voice was too casual to not be hiding something. How had he picked up on her discomfort when he seemed to be gazing at the view?

Daringly, she reached out to place her hand over the one he was resting on his nearest knee, and she felt his slight start at the contact. "It's beautiful, Shino. Thank you for bringing me here. Please don't let my insecurities worry you."

Turning his head toward her, his expression was flatly unreadable. "There is no reason to feel insecure. Why? Because we are both heavily armed shinobi safe within the walls of our own village."

Tenten had to cover her mouth to keep her laughter from echoing through the teashop. Just as she got her giggles under control, their hostess returned with a tray full of tea and snacks, which she arranged on the little table with graceful efficiency. After pouring them each a cup of tea and accepting Tenten's thanks, she left with a smile and a twinkle in her eye.

"What was that?" She wondered as she took a sip of the strong, woody oolong, admiring the dragonfly carved into the side of her cup. Then she huffed away her surprise that Shino shared her favorite tea.

"What was what?" Again with the too casual reply. This time it caused her to question more than what response he was hiding.

"Our hostess seemed...pleased that I was laughing." As she glanced at the door behind them, she noticed the decorative covers for the nail heads that joined the pillars of the wall with the roof beams were shaped like ladybugs.

He nodded and helped himself to a butterfly-shaped higashi from a plate trimmed with the images of flowers and bumble bees. "No doubt she prefers happy customers."

Feeling he was avoiding her gaze as well as her intent, she decided on a different, more direct track. "Shino, why did you bring me to this particular teashop?"

There was the slightest hesitation before he answered. "It is a favorite of my clan."

Sure it was. "Any particular reason?" Was that a caterpillar design in the fabric trim of the tatami mats?

"Yes."

She gave him her best "out with it" glare. "That being?"

After a defeated sigh, he turned fully to her, the cushion spinning along with his knees as he shifted to face her. "This establishment is run by my mother's family. Our hostess is my grandmother."

As a little girl, Tenten had dreamed about what it would be like to have a grandmother, one of those benign, loving people who always aided their grandchildren in fairy tales. "You make your grandmother call you 'Lord'?" If she'd had one, she sure as hell wouldn't have made her kowtow for any reason!

Frowning, he shook his head. "It was her idea. She thought you would be impressed. I thought you would find it pompous and be annoyed when you learned she is not just our hostess." Brow twisted up in worry, his voice was a mix of anxiety, frustration, and pleading. "It is exceptionally difficult to say, 'No' to grandmothers."

The thought of the mighty Shino Aburame bending to the will of an elderly teashop hostess made her choke on her oolong as she again had to hastily restrain her laughter with both hands.

"You are not mad?" He spoke with so much hope, she had to smile.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, but it's more funny than annoying."

Gesturing to the door, he started to rise. "Would you like me to get her?"

With a quick grab, she snagged his sleeve to stop him. "Will it spoil her fun if she knows I know?"

"Probably, but I am fine with that."

"Shino!" She tugged him back down onto his cushion.

He was the perfect picture of petulant. "I do not appreciate having the success of our outing put at risk to accommodate the pretentious notions of maternal relatives." He said it with such exasperation, she laughed.

Then a thought occurred to her, one that could definitely have an impact on their long-term compatibility. "Do you actually like oolong?" She had always suspected he was a sencha drinker.

"I do not dislike it."

"Well, at least there's that."

With that potential pitfall out of the way, they enjoyed their tea and treats and tales of their teammates. She told him of the time she'd taken advantage of Neji being sick with the flu to put his hair into buns—she could still get Lee to burst into uncontrollable laughter just by putting her fists up on either side of Neji's head—while Shino reluctantly confessed he had tried another hairstyle. Once he'd become a chūnin, Kiba had pestered him until he'd given in. After a few too many, "Just a little mores" from Kiba, they had ended with shaving Shino bald. It was the reason he'd taken to wearing the hood of his overcoat and was one of the three times Kiba had actually apologized to him.

Once their pot was finished, Shino grew serious again. "Tenten..."

"Yes?"

Setting aside his teacup, he placed both hands on his knees. "Would you be agreeable to the prospect of accompanying me on a walk in the park followed by lunch?"

"Well, since you currently have a deficit regarding the sharing of personal preferences, I believe the only equitable solution is to continue our outing until a balance of social information gathering has been achieved." She was pleased with herself that she'd said it with a straight face.

One black eyebrow arched high on his broad forehead. "Are you making fun of the way I talk?"

"Maybe." She arched an eyebrow of her own. "Is that a problem?"

He stood and slid the screen aside for her. "Not enough to bias me against you, but it has a negative effect on your charm quotient."

Nodding, she stepped into her slippers. "I'll keep that in mind."

With effort, Tenten didn't giggle at the fuss Shino's grandmother made over him as they left, like he was the daimyo or something. Once they'd paid the bill and bid their "hostess" farewell, the combination of sugar and caffeine gave Tenten an energy spike that caused her to practically skip down the slope. She arrived at the beginning of the path ahead of Shino and raised her arms in triumph. "I win!"

As he drew up beside her, he favored her with another expressionless face. "I was unaware it was a competition."

She pffted at him. "You feed me sweets and tea and don't expect a little frivolousness? Besides, I never get to win anything involving speed with Lee on my team." Aside from Naruto, Lee was the fastest of their generation.

"I am familiar with the trials and tribulations of having an exceptionally swift teammate." His tone was commiserating.

Spinning around, she walked backward so she could watch his face as she threw down a social gauntlet. "Lee could kick Kiba's ass in a race."

Shino nodded. "Which is no doubt the reason Kiba has never challenged him to one."

It pleased her that he didn't rise to her bait.

"You let me win, didn't you?"

After looking at her for a long moment, he shrugged. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself, and I felt it would be mortifying to try and fail to defeat you as well as imprudent to possibly succeed."

She had heard from Neji, who had heard from Hinata, what Shino had done during the invasion that had coincided with the finals of their first chūnin exams years ago. In the middle of the chaos that Konoha had become, Shino had taken off after his would-be opponent, who had forfeited for tactical reasons. The young heir's competitive streak was so strong, he'd nearly died just to prove to himself he would have been victorious in the first round. That such a man would let anyone else win for any reason was astounding.

Unsure how she felt about that or the sense of anticipation that rivaled the sugar in her stomach, she turned around and fell into step beside him. "Tea was great, by the way. Thanks."

"It was nothing."

That made her laugh. "It was definitely not nothing, Shino." Deciding to push the envelope again, she slipped her arm through his and felt him significantly stiffen, so she loosened her hold, noting his arm was thinner than she'd imagined. "I thought things were going well, but if this makes you uncomfortable or there's some clan thing-"

"It is not that."

When he didn't elaborate, she gave his captured arm a tug. "Then what is it?"

His chin lifted to indicate the road ahead of them. "We are approaching the market area. Despite my...altered appearance, I am still clearly an Aburame. It is...uncommon for Aburames to be seen as so familiar with others." A frown tugged at his lips. "It could cause a stir."

She didn't get it. They were both young, fit, single, and looking great. Why should there be a problem? "Will it embarrass you?"

"No." It was the most emphatic she'd ever heard him.

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No." This time, his voice was softer, with the slightest tremor to it that caused her heart to skip a beat.

She gave his arm a squeeze. "Then let's cause a stir."

DETAILS

The reason I say Shino has a full lower lip is because of the little lines Kishimoto uses to define the lips of some of his characters. The two-page color illustration of the Rookies before the war, from chapter 515, is the one I'm basing my assumption on. The very effeminate Sai has an extra line above and below his mouth line, suggesting full lips, while Shino has one beneath his mouth, which suggests a full lower lip. These lines are very consistent and can be seen throughout the series.

Although I do my best not to insert any cultural references into the Narutoverse that shouldn't exist, since it's not our Earth, there was no getting around the Tang suit (named for the Tang Dynasty of China it originated from). It's what I wanted him to be wearing, and there's no other word I could find for it. Ah well!

In pre-Pein Konoha, the Inuzukas lived on the north side of Konoha and the Aburames to the south. So I kept those the same for this.

Shōji = sliding doors and windows made of wooden frames covered by (usually rice) paper

Tatami = mats made from the folded stalks of rice and soft rush, a traditional Japanese floor covering that are approximately 3' by 6' each

According to Narutopedia, the third Naruto databook says Tenten loves to investigate, so I figured she would guess something was going on at the teashop pretty quickly.

FOOD DETAILS

Oolong = withered tea leaves that are then rolled or twisted, the variety of nuances and oxidation results in many favors; originating in China

Higashi = pressed sugar treat usually served with tea

Sencha = unroasted, unground green tea made from fresh dried tea leaves and originating in Japan