Disclaimer: I own none of the things. Have a Happy Easter weekend if you celebrate it! And if not, then just enjoy some sweet discounted candy from the store! I know I will! LOL! Hope you like the chapter.

UPDATE: Okay, to the guest reviewer who left that review I just deleted. You know who you are, I will not tolerate language like that in my review section. The other person is entitled to their opinion and I already addressed that person's criticisms in a private PM. My reviews page is not meant to be used as a war ground. I can defend my writing and artistic choices well enough on my own, thank you very much. If you don't like or agree with something I or another person said or did, make a coherent argument as to why. Because when you lower yourself to that level, it is you that looks like the fool. So once again, everyone please be mindful of what you write, because there are PEOPLE on the other end of your computer screen, not bits of data.

~More Than a Tool~

The sun broke the horizon as Tenten awoke from her troubled slumber. She had always been an early riser. And after having trained so religiously with Team Gai, she discovered it was quite difficult to break the habit. Grudgingly, Tenten slipped out of bed and got washed and dressed. If her stupid mind wouldn't allow her to rest, then she was going to train, damn it! So she quickly ate some breakfast and headed out to her team's old training field.

Since being broken out of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the weapons master found it hard to accept this new sense of peace enveloping the village. Tenten had accepted it the last time, and look where that led. Even though she was thoroughly convinced this was in fact reality, part of her just couldn't fully accept it.

Tenten had always been a pragmatic person. It was the main reason she decided to study seals and tools. "Prepare for the worst," was pretty much her own personal motto, "because when it happens, you'll be ready for it." And now that the war was over, all this peace and prosperity had her a little on edge. She was happy, most of the time. But in the back of her mind, she still couldn't help but wonder, "when's it all going to fall apart?"

During the final battle, Tenten and her team had lost a great deal. And really, when you got right down to it; what had she contributed? Since childhood, Tenten had longed to be like her hero, the legendary kunoichi Tsunade. Over and over, she repeatedly tried becoming a medical-nin. It was a hard pill to swallow, but eventually she came to the realization that it was futile. This was not the path she was meant to take.

Gai-sensei often says, "It's true that not everything we want will come to be... But the things that we must do will always begin with that wish."

Over the years, Tenten found this belief to be the most profound that her sensei has ever held. Training as a medical-nin led Tenten to discover her unique talents in other areas. From then on, she strove to instead become an important kunoichi in her own right. She learned the art of sealing beyond any other ninja in existence. The unparalleled strength of her precise work was still held in the highest regards.

But still... there were times when she felt inadequate when compared to the strength of her teammates Neji and Lee. Her contributions, while valuable, were often seen as being merely convenient. Oh, how she despised that word. It made her feel like she was just there to simply be used and then discarded, like a rusty tool. So she began to focus on strengthening her entire being, so that she would be able to control a force that was considered truly powerful. After years of exhaustive effort, she was ultimately able to seal raw elemental power. With the simple flick of her wrist, the natural force of the ocean was now at her command.

And yet, while Tenten had made important contributions during the war; in the end, she still felt like her goal was left unaccomplished.

Could she have done more? If only she had been given time to master the Bashōsen before the final battle began... It perfectly harnessed all the training she had done over the years into a truly formidable weapon.

If Tenten had, then maybe...

*An image of a gently smiling Neji flashed through her mind.*

"No, don't think like that," she dismissed with a shake of her head. "You can't change the past, only the present and the future."

That was why, Tenten would not sit idly by and wait rusting upon a shelf. She would train with Bashōsen now. And when the kunoichi had enough money saved, she planned to open her weapons shop.

Because when the time for war came again, she would be ready.

The young woman, so lost in her determined thoughts, didn't notice the small canister of sleeping gas that had been tossed at her feet. Reacting on instinct, Tenten immediately began to hold her breath, but it was too late.

As she lost consciousness, the distant cawing of a crow and the glint of black sunglasses were the last fragments she was able to catch before tumbling to the ground.

When Tenten next awoke, she found herself bound with rope to a chair, in an infuriatingly bright room. A large spotlight appeared to be glaring down at her from overhead. The light was making it hard to see anything else in the immediate area. Her head was lightly pounding, but she was quickly able to push the pain aside.

"Where... am I?" the kunoichi groggily asked. Soft jazz music began playing in the background as a voice said, "Ah... I see you've finally come to..."

Tenten's face scrunched up in confusion. "Gai-sensei? What-"

"Ah, ah," he scolded, waging a finger at her. "I'll be the one asking the questions."

"Okay..." she uncertainly replied.

Dramatically, Gai then ripped the black sunglasses off his face and placed them on the table. "It has come to our attention, Tenten, that you may know more than you're letting on..."

The kunoichi eyed her sensei questioningly. "Uh...huh... This is part of the childish games you and Lee play, isn't it?"

Gai froze at this and sweatdropped as Lee entered the room carrying a coffee mug.

"Come on, Tenten, that's mean!" he whined before taking a huge gulp from the cup and sat down next to Gai-sensei. "This is a top secret mission!"

"Sure, it is..." the brown-haired woman said condescendingly. "From who, then?"

"Naruto," they both answered and immediately clamped their hands back over their mouths once they realized what they had said.

"Really?" Tenten practically purred with intrigue. The blond had been acting a little odd lately. "How interesting..."

"Oi! We're the ones who are suppose to be asking the questions here!" exclaimed Lee as he turned on a flashlight and shined it right into Tenten's face.

"GAHH!" she exclaimed. "Will you cut that out?!"

"I'm afraid not, Tenten," offered Gai with a remorseful shake of his head. "We would not be very good interrogators if we did."

"Interrogators, huh?" the brown-haired woman asked with a tired sigh. "So you really are pretending to be cops."

Gai simply coughed into his hand. "Now, we can do this the easy way... or the hard way!"

Lee got up into Tenten's face with the light. "Tell us everything you know about the plans."

"Plans? What plans?" she growled in irritation. "You can't get someone to talk who doesn't know anything!"

"We can put you away for hard time!" threatened Lee as best he could. "We have enough evidence!"

"Uh... Lee," interrupted Gai-sensei with an uncertain smile. "I thought I was suppose to be 'bad cop.'"

Lee blinked in confusion for a moment as he turned the flashlight off. "But Gai-sensei, I thought we agreed that I should play the bad guy this time so that I may gain insight into the mind of villains?"

Gai then flashed Lee his "good guy" pose. "Ah, but see in real life, I am always 'good cop.' So I felt it important to take on the opposing role for once."

"But... Gai-sensei, we can't both be bad cop!" Lee pointed out pragmatically. " One of us has to be good!"

"Hmm... I see. Truly, an interesting dilemma has presented itself," said the older gentleman in thought.

"We must settle this in the only honorable way possible..."

"Rock-Paper-Scissors?"

"Rock-Paper-Scissors," Gai agreed.

As the pair played out their game, Tenten rolled her eyes imploringly to the heavens. "Why me? See what you left me with Neji!" the kunoichi thought to herself as she released the concealed knife hidden within a seal on her wrist. She cut herself out of the bindings and grabbed one of her weapon scrolls Lee and Gai had stupidly left laying out in full view on the interrogation room table.

"Oh, boys..." she called to them mockingly.

Gaining the duo's attention, they turned as one and immediately sweatdropped when they noticed what she was holding in her hand.

"Say hello to my little friends!" the woman said with a sadistic grin as she released the seal upon her weapons scroll.

POOF! SHING!

"AHHHHHHH!"

Naruto whistled merrily to himself as he walked toward the 3rd conference room in the Hokage's building. He was going to check on Gai and Lee's progress about convincing Tenten to help out with the engagement plans.

The blond walked up and swung opened the door with a happy fox grin. "Hey guys! How's it going? Did she-"

Naruto cut off what he was about to say as he took in the sight of Tenten sitting atop the bloody twitching bodies of Lee and Gai piled upon the floor.

"You explain all this," she hissed threateningly at him, giving the pair lying underneath her a swift kick, "Now!"

"H-Hai..." the blond agreed with a nervous sweatdrop.

After several apologies, and a quick visit to Konoha's medical ward. Tenten was now made aware that Naruto was planning to propose. And he wanted her help in doing it! The brown-haired woman was so excited! Her friend had wanted this for so long, and now it seemed like all Hinata's sweet dreams were coming true.

"Can you believe it, Neji?" the kunoichi asked the image of her dearly departed friend, placing the picture in view of her sealing scroll workplace. "After all this time, it actually happened!"

Tenten practically squealed in delight as she gathered together all the supplies needed for this project. Overall, it would be the most complex series of seals she had ever made. Each mark, the amount of chakra, all of it had to be flawless for them to work together without a hitch.

But as with everyone in Team Gai, Tenten would never turn down a challenge such as this! Finally! A new way for her to stretch herself and test the true extent of her skills. With a grin of pride, Tenten sat down at her desk and immediately got to work.

Hours later, a soft knock at the apartment door caused Tenten to wipe the sweat from her brow and take a rather reluctant break. It was draining to connect such a complicated network of seals, but it would be worth it in the end.

With a quick stretch and crack of her back, Tenten got up and walked over to the front door.

"Hey, what's- ugh..." she abruptly finished in aggravation, when she saw a bandaged up Lee standing there with a large fruit basket.

"Hi, Tenten... I uh, can I come in?" he hesitantly asked, while tying to use his present as a bribe.

The brown-haired woman let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, whatever!"

Nervously, Lee went inside and placed the fruit basket on Tenten's kitchen table. "I uh- sorta came over to apologize for Gai-sensei and me. We... kinda got carried away. Gomen, Tenten."

Lee then bowed to her with an embarrassed blush. "Gai-sensei and I have been trying our best to help Naruto in anyway we can, because we both know that's what Neji would have wanted."

Tenten let out another sigh. She had already deduced that. Honestly, the kunoichi could never stay mad at the crazy "Green Beasts" for long.

True, they were a pair of goofballs. But, they were her goofballs. And deep down, she wouldn't have them any other way.

"Alright, apology accepted," she relented with a shrug of defeat. "Just try not to go that far when it's time to enact the plan. I don't want you two ruining this for Hinata."

Lee straightened back up and gave Tenten a salute. "Hai! You have our most solemn word Tenten, on our honor of being ninjas!"

To this, she let out a sardonic snort and began searching though the fruit basket. "Yeah well, we'll see. Thanks for the peace offering though. It will help keep my energy up while I work on this."

"You are welcome my friend!" Lee sincerely exclaimed as he walked over to Tenten's desk and glanced at the progress she had been making. "Will Naruto's ideas be that difficult to complete?"

"Well, it's pretty complicated I'll admit," she replied while grabbing an apple from the basket. "But, nothing I can't handle."

Tenten then walked back over to Lee and noticed that he had picked up her picture of Neji.

"He... he would be so happy, wouldn't he, Tenten?" Lee whispered to her, his voice becoming a little hoarse.

"Hai," she agreed, taking the offered picture from her friend's hands. "I've been thinking about him and and our team a lot lately..."

Lee just gave her a questioning glance. "In what, way?"

Her grip on the picture frame tightened for a moment. "If we really did all we could... i-in the final battle I mean... Honestly, in the end, I wasn't very much help at all..."

"Tenten..." said Lee, his eyes filled with concern. "The things you did during the war were invaluable to us all!"

"Lee... can I ask you something, p-personal?"

"Always my friend," he sincerely replied, reaching out a supportive hand to rest upon her shoulder.

"What... do you see me as?"

Lee simply blinked at this. "I'm afraid I don't understand you meaning..."

"When you think of me... was I a valuable asset to our team... or w-was I just a person of convenience. A-a tool. Something that was meant to be used and then left behind."

"Never, Tenten!" was his fervent reply. "Gai-sensei, Neji, and I always considered you an equal."

And here, Tenten finally broke. "But I wasn't enough! Maybe if I had been- N-Neji-kun would still be alive to see all this!"

"Tenten," Lee whispered again, drawing her into a hug as she began to cry. "You did everything you could. We all did. Neji would not wish for his passing to cause you such pain."

At that moment, the front door that the young woman had left unlocked, swung open. "He is right, Tenten," Gai agreed as he wheeled his way into the somber scene. "Do not let Neji's loss affect you in such a way. I morn many friends that I have lost in the field of battle. When the time came, I gave everything I had to defeat Madara, and yet... I still failed. Do you think any less of me?"

"Of course not Gai-sensei!" Tenten gasped as she reached out and encompassed Gai into her and Lee's embrace. "You were incredible! How could you ever think that?"

"Then you should not think of yourself in such a way either," he stated, holding his precious students tight. "You are one of the most determined and driven people I have ever known. I could not be prouder to have called you my student. And I know for a fact, that Neji and Lee felt the same way as well."

"H-Hai, we love you Tenten," Lee agreed, trying to wipe away his waterfalls of tears. "And I'm certain Neji-kun is looking down on us with a smile, knowing that we will fight on in his place. His deeds and actions will live on through us, so we must continue to work as hard as we can for his sake."

"Arigato, you two... arigato..." thanked Tenten, finally being able to put aside her own sense of self-doubt.

The woman now felt, that she could let the love and support of her friends begin to heal the pain of her loss. And she would help them both do the same.

As of now, a scarce number of Naruto's friends are still in the dark about his plans. As the day steadily approaches, the risks continue to mount. Will Naruto succeed?

Time still has yet to tell...

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: Well that was more emotionally draining than I thought! Going to need a bit of a break after that one guys. Whew! I put a LOT into that! Let me know if you liked it!

So we are almost at the end people! Only two more chapters before the big event! Kiba or Shino (don't worry about Yamato, you'll see) WHO WILL BE THE LAST TO KNOW? All this and more, next time!

I consider these next two to be important ones guys so expect 2-3 weeks for the next chapter to be out. Just warning you guys now. But reviews might help with the speed of that! LOL!

And as always...

Please remember to read, fav, and review! Feedback helps fuel the muse! Feed the fanfic muse!

Japanese Word Key:

Dobe: Dead Last or Idiot

Teme: Bastard

Nii-chan: Brother

Nee-chan: Sister

Hai: Yes

Itadakimasu: It's a traditional Japanese phrase that means: "I thank you for the meal."

Otousan: Father (formal)

Tou-chan: Dad (informal)

Kaa-chan: Mother

Oba-chan: Granny

Ero-kage: Perverted (or Ero in japanese) Hokage

Arigato: Thank you

Kami: God or spirit

Chibi: Short, cute style of drawing

Baka: Idiot

Gomen'nasai: I'm sorry

Gomen: Sorry

Bento box: the Japanese term for a lunch box, or a boxed lunch of some kind.

Shogi: Japanese chess

Kunoichi: Female ninja

Shinobi: Ninja (not sure if it's just used for males though)

Sensei: Teacher

Dattebayo: Naruto's catchphrase in Japanese. It doesn't actually translate to "Believe it!" It's just an exclamation like: Yippee! or Huzzah!