Chapter Text
7
POV: None
“Excuse me, Tenten-san…” One Uchiha Itachi asks the night after Shisui died.
“Yes, Uchiha-san?” Tenten responds, her voice rhythmically interrupted by the clang of her hammer against a lump of red-hot metal.
“I’d heard that Shisui had received a tantō from you for an ANBU assignment, and I’d wanted to pick it up…” The Uchiha fades off, as he is nervous of whether or not she’d heard the news of Shisui’s passing.
“Oh, of course Uchiha-san, it’s in the back of the shop – I’ll go get it for you.” Tenten turns and grins at the heir and runs behind the furnaces.
A minute later, Tenten emerges from the furnace and holds a tantō in a sheath decorated with crows and shades of red.
“It’s some of my finest work, Uchiha-san!” Tenten says, keeping the grin on her face. “Shisui-san had given me a chakra crystal of his, so it’s embedded in the hilt of the tanto to imbue it with chakra, so his fire-natured chakra is in the blade – it won’t run out for about a decade!”
Itachi gives a small smile to the girl, “Arigatō, Tenten-san.” Tenten grins again back and waves to the heir as he left.
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The next time Itachi uses the tantō was when the Uchiha clan fell.
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8
“Sasuke-kun!” Tenten yells, standing with a box outside the last Uchiha’s house. “I have your delivery!”
The small Uchiha cracks open the door, and bows to Tenten, “hello, Tenten-san, please come in.”
Tenten enters the near-abandoned house and sits in front of Sasuke with her box.
“Okay, Sasuke-kun, so here’s the set of a dozen kunai that you ordered- along with the whetstone, which I’ll show you how to use later- the two-dozen shuriken set, by the way, do you still need help with those?” At Sasuke’s nod, she continues, “and finally, Mikoto-sama’s katana, which I can help you with if you wish to wield it.”
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“Okay, so, Sasuke-kun, to do Shurikenjutsu, it’s actually more of a…”
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9
POV Change: Mitarashi Anko
Mitarashi Anko is looking for a new weapons store. The last one refuses to sell to her when they had realised she’d been Orochimaru’s student. Assholes.
Anyways, she is walking through the blacksmith’s district to find someone to sell to her. Most of them shed away and avert their eyes as she walks past their store, and she is getting tired of it.
She can feel the stifling heat from an open furnace up ahead – her last shop had that too, and the majority of the time it was an indicator of a good shop, because nothing could be hidden behind closed doors. As she approaches, the hiss of steam signals the billowing of steam from the front of the shop. Waving the steam away from her face, she steps beyond the boundary line, and she can see a small head with two buns shoot up.
“HELLO!” A young girl’s voice, Anko was guessing – erupts from the source of the steam, “I’LL BE OUT IN A SECOND!”
Anko grins, this kid seems to have a backbone.
Two minutes later, a short girl walks out of the mist with a little blue and bronze choker around her neck. “IS THERE A CUSTOMer… oh.” The girl seems to scrutinise Anko for a second, “OH! You’re Mitarashi Anko! The kickass kunoichi from T&I!”
Anko grins a little wider. So, the kid knew who she is. “That’s me. I’m on a search for a new weapons shop – my old one ‘closed down.’”
“I can do it, Mitarashi-san!” The girl grins up at her. Almost the same level of sunshine as Minato-sama’s kid, the thought crosses her mind.
“Sure, kid, but what’s your name?” Anko asks.
“Tenten! Now, what’s your order?”
“Just call me Anko, kid. Now…”
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9 & a half
“It’ll be ready in two weeks, Anko-san! Thanks for coming!”
“Thanks kid!” Anko yells back to Tenten.
“I HAVE A NAME, ANKO-SAN, IT’S TENTEN. USE IT!”
“SURE TENTEN-CHAN!” Anko hollers again, just to piss the nine, ‘I’m almost ten, Anko-san.’ year-old off.
“UGHH- NOT LIKE THAT!” Tenten yells, just shy of a shriek - the jab obviously works.
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“Hey kid-”
“It’s Tenten, Anko-san”
“I need a set of senbon, stat, for a friend.” Anko obviously needs them, so Tenten is in business mode. “Measurements?”
“Six and a half inches, zero-point-zero-five inches of wall, two compartments – with the cool little mechanism that you have. Refillable, please.”
“How many do you need, Anko-san?”
“Four-dozen.”
“It’ll be ready tomorrow morning.”
“Thanks kid.”
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POV Change: Genma
"Anko, where the fuck did you get these senbon. The walls are tiny, and they fly so well-” Genma whispers, ranting about the quality of the senbon.
“Oh, them? Tenten’s shop.” Anko replies, not thinking much of it.
Genma pauses, “Who’s ‘Tenten?’” he asks, “I thought you normally got ‘em from the weird-ass Keiyō shop.”
“Oh. I got kicked out, so I found this kid – Tenten – who is like- what, nine, ten? Years old now, and she apparently supplied the killer Uchiha with the tantō he used to kill the clan under the pretences that it was the Shunshin’s tantō and he was picking it up.”
“The fuck?” Genma whispers, but either Anko hears and doesn’t care, or she doesn’t hear him, and continues to speak over him.
“Crazy, right? Anyways, she’s a good kid. She’s been supplying me and most of T&I with the good stuff. Morino and Inoichi don’t actually know she’s supplying it, but she is. She’s getting into fūinjutsu too and has started putting advanced seals on the weapons she’s making. I’ll show you how to activate them in a bit- but she’s probably the Weapons Mistress of the next generation.”
“Huh.”
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10
POV Change: Jiraiya
Jiraiya,
I need you back at the village, unknown seals have been appearing and I need you to deal with them. You do not need to interact.
Regards,
Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage
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“Hey, Sensei, where are these seals?” Jiraiya asks once he’s in the Hokage office.
“Everywhere, mostly concentrated in the market and entertainment districts – not the red-light.” Hiruzen answers.
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Jiraiya, the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, Seals Master of Konohagakure had been caught in a freezer seal. Freezer seals aren’t complicated if they aren’t targeted, but no one else is getting caught, and no one is glancing at him, so it must be a camouflage seal, along with a sound-barrier, and a targeted freezer seal. That’s complicated.
Jiraiya is halfway through the thought of ‘there’s another seals master in Konoha and Sensei didn’t tell me’ as a small, ten-year-old looking girl (with no breasts, how sad, he thought) pops out from behind the building, a seal flashing on her person and activating – the seal seemed to be the same as his, aside from the freezer seal and with the addition of an alert if his seal was activated incorporated with the design.
“So you’re the pervert annoying the Awadatsu’s.” The girl deadpans, not impressed.
Jiraiya racks his brain for the name, then the girl prompts, “it’s the bathhouse chain.”
“Oh. Then yes, I am.”
The girl narrows her eyes, “so fuck off then.” Jiraiya is reminded of Tsunade, then thinks she’d be the result if Tsunade and Orochimaru had a child, then he remembers about the student Orochimaru had – Anko, he thinks her name is – and the kid is a miniature, less sexualising Anko.
“Do you know Anko-chan?”
The girl’s expression turns thunderous. “DO NOT ADRESS ANKO-SAN IN SUCH A WAY!”
As if summoned, Mitarashi Anko also pops her head around the corner, a mirror of the younger girl’s movements two minutes ago, dressed in the T&I trench coat.
“Oh, hey kid.” Anko greets.
“NOT A KID, ANKO-SAN!”
“I was summoned?” Anko continues, ignoring the girl’s interruption. “Oh. Jiraiya.” Anko crouches down to the devil of a girl and tells her, “Tenten, listen to me. Stay away from this man. He’s a pervert.”
Jiraiya, feeling offended, says, “Excuse you, I am Jiraiya, the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, Seals Master of Konohagakure-”
“Yada yada…”
“-and a Super Pervert!”
‘Tenten’ looks at Jiraiya, “ew. I was commissioned to stop you from pissing of the bathhouses, and I’ve done that now, so bye bye!” She yells, becoming a blur before going in kami knows what direction.
How fun, Jiraiya thinks now I have to tell Hiruzen that there’s another seal master coming up and she bested me… and she’s a child.
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11
POV Change: Hyūga Neji
“…Team three! Lee Rokū, Hyūga Neji and Tenten. Your sensei is Maito Gai, he will be here shortly.” The useless academy sensei states.
How annoying, Neji thinks, the deadlast who can’t use chakra, the only civilian in the class – a girl no less – and a jounin who I’ve never heard of. He isn’t looking forward to this team, but they will all lead to his pre-written destiny, no matter what they try to change.
“DYNAMIC ENTRY!” a green-clad jounin in spandex announces as he breaks the door. “I am Maito Gai, the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha, and I am here to collect my Youthful team three!”
Neji can feel his face falling into what he heard one of his classmates call his ‘resting bitch face.’ This jounin cannot be competent.
“I will meet you at training ground thirty-seven in ten minutes! Good luck, my Youthful students!” ‘Maito Gai’ blurs out of the room, and Neji cannot feel any fluctuations in chakra. Perhaps he may learn something after all.
“Let’s go!” the girl – Tenten – smiles, before dashing out the door. Not as fast as the jounin, but not a pushover either.
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Timeskip: Ten minutes
Neji arrives at the – admittedly massive – training ground with two minutes to spare – only a little out of breath. However, he is surprised at the fact that the girl doesn’t seem drained at all – if anything, more energetic than before.
“Now!” the jounin yells, “introduce yourselves after me! Name, age, specialities, hobbies, goals, dreams, and any fun fact! I will go first! I am Maito Gai! I am twenty-four years old; I specialise in Youthful Taijutsu and stamina! I enjoy competing with my very Youthful Eternal Rival! My goal is to teach you all to be great shinobi! My dream is to become the Most Youthful and Honourable Taijutsu Master in all of the Elemental Nations! I can run three hundred laps around Konoha on my hands! You-” he points at Lee Rokū “-go next!”
“I am Rokū Lee! Please call me Lee! I am thirteen years old; I wish to specialise in taijutsu as I cannot manipulate my chakra, my hobby is to run, my goal is to become a shinobi that can hold my own, I have three family members, and my dream is to protect those dear to me by learning to fight!” Lee yells, Gai cheering alongside him.
“My name is Tenten, no last name, I am eleven years old. I specialise in fūinjutsu and can now wield thirteen weapons; my hobby is to train with Genkai-nii and to forge weapons, my goal is to become a weapons mistress, my dream is to be able to combine fūinjutsu and weaponry, and I am a blacksmith to pay for rent!” Tenten smiles.
“I am Hyūga Neji. I am twelve. I specialise in Gentle Fist, taijutsu. I enjoy training. My goal is to become a memorable shinobi to serve my clan. My dream is to serve. I can perform main house Gentle Fist style.” Neji says with little inflection – purposefully.
“Well, my Youthful students, I must test you to see whether you will join my Youthful team!” Gai yells, puffing his chest out.
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POV Change: No POV
Marksmanship
Neji shoots seven out of thirteen kunai in the bullseye. Three missed the targets due to them being impossible to shoot via one angle.
Lee shoots five out of thirteen kunai in the bullseye. Five missed their targets, three didn’t get bullseye.
Tenten shoots eleven out of thirteen kunai in the bullseye. She practices deflecting kunai often, but two were in overly awkward spots. They hit the targets.
Taijutsu
Neji lasts two minutes with Gai.
Lee lasts a minute and a half with Gai.
Tenten lasts a minute and fifty seconds with Gai.
Weapons sparring
Neji only trains with kunai and shuriken. He doesn’t last long against Tenten but wins against Lee.
Lee trains with kunai. He doesn’t last long with Tenten and looses after a two-minute round with Neji.
Tenten trains with a variety of weapons. Against Neji and Lee, she uses her daishō, and against Gai she uses her kyoketsu-shoge. She lasts seven minutes.
Stamina
Neji lasts twenty-one laps of the training ground.
Lee lasts twenty-point-five laps of the training ground.
Tenten lasts twenty-two laps of the training ground, as Gai told her to stop.
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“I will meet you here again at dawn tomorrow!” Gai yells, dismissing the team.
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End of prologue