Week 1 - Ignorance Isn't Bliss
- Location
- Massholistan
It's the start of another beautiful day when you set foot on the training grounds once more. Yesterday had past uneventfully after you gave the sleeping form of Sakura a piggy-back the rest of the way to her house. Though, that was not a conversation with her parents you had no wishes to navigate again. Which is why your current plan for today just has Sakura helping you with your plan to finally get around learning how to walk on water. Of course, you made that plan before the third edition to your little training circle decide to insert herself. Though frankly, you're putting off trying to understand...whatever that is as long as possible.
Which is why you are thankful to whoever is up there looking down at you that only one half of that mess is currently waiting for you on the training field. "Good morning Sakura!" You give her a chipper greeting as she halfheartedly waves at you. "How are you doing today?"
"I want to crawl back under my covers and go to sleep until an actually sane hour." She groans, "Though, I wanted to ask, what happened yesterday?" She muzzily rubs the lingering sleep from her eyes, "I remember...meeting someone. Mom says you ended up carrying me home after I fell asleep."
"Riiiiight, about that." Oh boy, here we go. "So, one of your...friends I guess...showed up looking for you, and now she wanted to meet us. She should be here soon actually."
"My friend?" Sakura's brow scrunches up in confusion, "Who...wait..."
"Blonde hair, Yamanaka...uh..."You snap your fingers, come on you got this. "Ino!" Sakura makes an odd choking noise but you continue, "Yeah, she heard you were getting taijutsu lessons from Gai-sensei, and she wanted to join you." You pause, "You may have also called her a pig."
Sakura's face goes through several expressions too fast for you to catch, before eventually falling on disbelief. "Why does she want to...does she even know what it's like?"
"You know, I don't think she does."
"Oh." Sakura's face goes pensive, and then you see a small spark of something ignite in her eyes. "Oh. This is going to be great."
"Sakura-" You start to caution, but she cuts you off.
"No! You don't get to talk, not after what you did to me yesterday." She huffs at you, "And besides, she wanted to come and you invited her. I just want her to share in my experiences."
"What are you..." You think back over what she's referring to, is she going to give her a piggyback? Then cool realization flows over you. "Oh. Oh. You're going to say that."
"Yes. That."
"I suppose that's fair." You shrug your shoulders. "If she can't handle it, she can't handle it."
"If I can't handle what?" A third voice pipes up, signifying the topic of your conversation had arrived. You spare a glance at the blonde girl, who stands with arm's crossed looking at the two of you.
You open your mouth to answer her, but Sakura beats you to it, a smile plastered across her face. "Oh hi Ino, Tenten here was just telling me you were going to show up to training."
"Like I would miss the chance to show you up." She scoffs "And if you could handle it, I'm sure it will be easy." You and Sakura share a glance, and wince. Sakura presumably because she knows it's not easy. You, however, wince because you know what happens when someone says the e-word.
You never say the e-word.
As evidenced by the shadow currently falling over Ino.
"Aha! Now that is the kind of youthful enthusiasm I like to hear in the morning!" Ino jumps forward with a squawk as a green pillar slams into the ground behind her. The force of the impact sends Sakura stumbling, but you manage to keep your footing through years of practice. Gai-sensei straightens and surveys the three of you, "Ah! Good morning Tenten! I see we have visitors today as well! Good morning Sakura!" He gives Sakura a beaming smile before his gaze settles down at Ino, who is staring at your teacher like a deer in headlights. "And who is this? One of Asuma's students!"
It's Sakura who first speaks up. "Yes, Gai-sensei, she heard about the taijutsu lessons you gave me and how much it helped, and she just couldn't stay away. Isn't that right Ino?"
"I....but...wha...yes?" Ino's mouth moves, but she still can't seem to piece together a coherent sentence. Then Sakura elbows you in the side, and you snap out of your morbid fascination watching this all unfold.
"Wha-Oh! Yeah, Gai-sensei, she approached me last night after I took Sakura home. She was very, ah, adamant. And since I was planning on practicing water-walking and chakra control with Sakura today, I didn't see any harm in inviting her. And well, you saw their preliminary match..." You and Sakura glance at one another, and you say the next part together. "Her taijutsu needs work."
Gai-sensei rubs his chin, looking Ino up and down, "Is this true? Do you truly wish to learn the power of youth as Sakura did?"
Ino looks rapidly between you and Sakura, and Gai in confusion, "Uh...yes?"
Gai gives her a beaming smile, "Excellent! Tenten! Phenomenal work finding those who wish to improve themselves as you have! Everyone should have the chance to unlock the springtime of youth inside themselves!"
You pale, a chill running up your spine, but you manage to nod your head. "Yes, ah, good luck Ino. Me and Sakura will be by the lake Gai-sensei."
He gives you a thumbs up, "A plan! I will meet you there! But first!"
Poor Ino just looks around, confusion clear on her face. "What's going ooooooooooooooooooo-" she is whisked away by your teacher. Her voice fading away, leaving only you and Sakura alone. Silence reigns in the clearing for several for seconds before Sakura doubles over laughing.
"That...that was...the look on her face..." She pauses to let the laughter subside before wiping tears from her eyes. "That was amazing."
"Well, I doubt she'll say it was easy after this." You say gravely. You really, really hope you don't end the day with her in a jumpsuit. "You do know he's going to make us spar after this right?"
"Oh I'm counting on that." Sakura gives you a feral smile and rubs her hands together, "Now then, water-walking? That's like tree-walking right?"
You nod as the two of you start walking towards the small lake on the edge of the training field. "Yeah, it's basically the same concept, though it requires even finer control."
"So, finally something I'll be better than you at?" Sakura looks at you with no small amount of mirth in her eyes.
"We'll see about that." You kick off you sandals at the edge of the water, "Now, we can wait for Gai-sensei to get here to explain more fully, but the basic idea is you run chakra over the bottom of your feet and use that to repel yourself away from the...water...Sakura?" You glance around, not seeing the pink-haired girl anywhere, "Where'd you...go..."
"So like this then?" Sakura waves to you. From about ten feet off shore.
You blink, "How?"
"It's not that difficult." She chirps, "A bit tricky because it constantly changes though. Come on! You try!"
You roll up your pants and take a deep breath, beginning the process of cycling chakra through your feet. Alright, you can do this. You can do thiiiiiiiii-Your feet punches right through the surface of the water and you go tumbling forward. Landing in the shallows with a splash. Soaking your legs in freezing cold water. You do your best to ignore Sakura's giggles as you push yourself back up, feet sinking into the muck at the bottom of the lake.
Then you are interrupted by a crash, and a green blur erupting from the trees. "Ah! I see you have already begun your training! That's the spirit Tenten!" Then he blinks as he sees Sakura standing out on the lake, "Aha! and I see my eternal rival has taught you well Sakura! Excellent Work! Tenten! This is now a competition by proxy! Do not let my Rival beat me! Show her the true Power of Youth!"
You blink, "Uh..." Just give it up Tenten, it's not worth it.
Gai-sensei gives you some pointers and a few starting tips, before leaving you the rest to work out on your own with Sakura's help. It's frustrating work, chakra control has never exactly been your strong suit, and keeping the balance proves to...difficult. You do manage to eventually keep yourself above water with concentration, though it collapses as soon as you lose your focus. Like what happened when Sakura decided to do a cartwheel past you. Gai-sensei stops by every now and then to check on your progress.
By the end of the day you're soaking wet, and Sakura barely has a drop of water on her, but at least you managed to get it mostly figured out. Even if it's not quite instinctive yet.
Then, just as you're starting to finish up and dry off at the end of the day, the other member of your little trio bursts out of the forest. The blondes clothing has definitely seen better days, and her hair is an absolute mess, and her face is contorted in a rictus of rage "You two!"
You blink, but Sakura greets her mildly, "Oh hey Ino. How was your training?"
"How was my training?!" She screeches, "You two left me alone! With that maniac!"
"Oh whatever do you mean Ino? I thought it was going to be easy, you seemed so confident." Sakura gives her...friend? a beatific smile.
"Graaahh! You...stupid...You knew!" She pants through gritted teeth as she gets in up in Sakura's face. The two of them glaring at one another.
"Aha! Yes! Ino performed very well! Just like you Sakura, she possess the Power of Youth hidden within her! And she told me of your glorious rivalry to win the Uchiha boy's heart! Truly young love is a bountiful well of Youthful passion!"
The praise from your sensei seems to mollify Ino somewhat, but you don't pay attention to that. You're too busy going pale at the thought that you accidentally brought two rivals to be tutored by Gai-sensei together. You don't know if you can deal with another pair.
"But! To truly test your limits, I have one final task for all three of you! Sakura! Ino! You show potential! But you need to hold fast to your dreams! To never give up! To fight on against even when outmatched! That's where you can find the true springtime of Youth!"
Oh no, you really don't like where this is goi-"Tenten!"
You stiffen when Gai-sensei barks your name, "Yes sir?"
"I want you to give them a good fight, 2 against 1, use anything you want to fight them. I want you to test them, and also push yourself if you can." Your eyes light up as you turn to Sakura and Ino, okay, you were wrong. You like where this is going.
Sakura and Ino share a glance between themselves, and then look back at you. On your part, you're currently cradling a kunai knife in your hands. This is going to be fun.
You are now sparring with Ino and Sakura. What's your plan?
[ ] Go all out from the beginning, Gai-sensei said to test them right? Well, you're going to test them. (Tenten will use everything at her disposal to try and beat Ino and Sakura)
[ ] Hang back a bit, you want to give them a chance to show their stuff, nothing special until you need it. (Tenten will withhold from using charms until she starts to lose)
[ ] You're interested in seeing what they can really do, so you're going to make them pull that out. (Tenten is just going to dodge and weave, much like she did in her spar with Sakura.)
Poor Ino. Poor, Poor Ino. She probably should have asked Asuma what she was getting into before she went ahead and showed up for this. Would have made her life a whole lot easier.
And now they get to fight a Tenten that can use weapons. I'm sure this will go swimmingly for them. Though maybe it will be another bonding experience? Who knows.
Certainly not Tenten, who doesn't what to think anymore.
Which is why you are thankful to whoever is up there looking down at you that only one half of that mess is currently waiting for you on the training field. "Good morning Sakura!" You give her a chipper greeting as she halfheartedly waves at you. "How are you doing today?"
"I want to crawl back under my covers and go to sleep until an actually sane hour." She groans, "Though, I wanted to ask, what happened yesterday?" She muzzily rubs the lingering sleep from her eyes, "I remember...meeting someone. Mom says you ended up carrying me home after I fell asleep."
"Riiiiight, about that." Oh boy, here we go. "So, one of your...friends I guess...showed up looking for you, and now she wanted to meet us. She should be here soon actually."
"My friend?" Sakura's brow scrunches up in confusion, "Who...wait..."
"Blonde hair, Yamanaka...uh..."You snap your fingers, come on you got this. "Ino!" Sakura makes an odd choking noise but you continue, "Yeah, she heard you were getting taijutsu lessons from Gai-sensei, and she wanted to join you." You pause, "You may have also called her a pig."
Sakura's face goes through several expressions too fast for you to catch, before eventually falling on disbelief. "Why does she want to...does she even know what it's like?"
"You know, I don't think she does."
"Oh." Sakura's face goes pensive, and then you see a small spark of something ignite in her eyes. "Oh. This is going to be great."
"Sakura-" You start to caution, but she cuts you off.
"No! You don't get to talk, not after what you did to me yesterday." She huffs at you, "And besides, she wanted to come and you invited her. I just want her to share in my experiences."
"What are you..." You think back over what she's referring to, is she going to give her a piggyback? Then cool realization flows over you. "Oh. Oh. You're going to say that."
"Yes. That."
"I suppose that's fair." You shrug your shoulders. "If she can't handle it, she can't handle it."
"If I can't handle what?" A third voice pipes up, signifying the topic of your conversation had arrived. You spare a glance at the blonde girl, who stands with arm's crossed looking at the two of you.
You open your mouth to answer her, but Sakura beats you to it, a smile plastered across her face. "Oh hi Ino, Tenten here was just telling me you were going to show up to training."
"Like I would miss the chance to show you up." She scoffs "And if you could handle it, I'm sure it will be easy." You and Sakura share a glance, and wince. Sakura presumably because she knows it's not easy. You, however, wince because you know what happens when someone says the e-word.
You never say the e-word.
As evidenced by the shadow currently falling over Ino.
"Aha! Now that is the kind of youthful enthusiasm I like to hear in the morning!" Ino jumps forward with a squawk as a green pillar slams into the ground behind her. The force of the impact sends Sakura stumbling, but you manage to keep your footing through years of practice. Gai-sensei straightens and surveys the three of you, "Ah! Good morning Tenten! I see we have visitors today as well! Good morning Sakura!" He gives Sakura a beaming smile before his gaze settles down at Ino, who is staring at your teacher like a deer in headlights. "And who is this? One of Asuma's students!"
It's Sakura who first speaks up. "Yes, Gai-sensei, she heard about the taijutsu lessons you gave me and how much it helped, and she just couldn't stay away. Isn't that right Ino?"
"I....but...wha...yes?" Ino's mouth moves, but she still can't seem to piece together a coherent sentence. Then Sakura elbows you in the side, and you snap out of your morbid fascination watching this all unfold.
"Wha-Oh! Yeah, Gai-sensei, she approached me last night after I took Sakura home. She was very, ah, adamant. And since I was planning on practicing water-walking and chakra control with Sakura today, I didn't see any harm in inviting her. And well, you saw their preliminary match..." You and Sakura glance at one another, and you say the next part together. "Her taijutsu needs work."
Gai-sensei rubs his chin, looking Ino up and down, "Is this true? Do you truly wish to learn the power of youth as Sakura did?"
Ino looks rapidly between you and Sakura, and Gai in confusion, "Uh...yes?"
Gai gives her a beaming smile, "Excellent! Tenten! Phenomenal work finding those who wish to improve themselves as you have! Everyone should have the chance to unlock the springtime of youth inside themselves!"
You pale, a chill running up your spine, but you manage to nod your head. "Yes, ah, good luck Ino. Me and Sakura will be by the lake Gai-sensei."
He gives you a thumbs up, "A plan! I will meet you there! But first!"
Poor Ino just looks around, confusion clear on her face. "What's going ooooooooooooooooooo-" she is whisked away by your teacher. Her voice fading away, leaving only you and Sakura alone. Silence reigns in the clearing for several for seconds before Sakura doubles over laughing.
"That...that was...the look on her face..." She pauses to let the laughter subside before wiping tears from her eyes. "That was amazing."
"Well, I doubt she'll say it was easy after this." You say gravely. You really, really hope you don't end the day with her in a jumpsuit. "You do know he's going to make us spar after this right?"
"Oh I'm counting on that." Sakura gives you a feral smile and rubs her hands together, "Now then, water-walking? That's like tree-walking right?"
You nod as the two of you start walking towards the small lake on the edge of the training field. "Yeah, it's basically the same concept, though it requires even finer control."
"So, finally something I'll be better than you at?" Sakura looks at you with no small amount of mirth in her eyes.
"We'll see about that." You kick off you sandals at the edge of the water, "Now, we can wait for Gai-sensei to get here to explain more fully, but the basic idea is you run chakra over the bottom of your feet and use that to repel yourself away from the...water...Sakura?" You glance around, not seeing the pink-haired girl anywhere, "Where'd you...go..."
"So like this then?" Sakura waves to you. From about ten feet off shore.
You blink, "How?"
"It's not that difficult." She chirps, "A bit tricky because it constantly changes though. Come on! You try!"
You roll up your pants and take a deep breath, beginning the process of cycling chakra through your feet. Alright, you can do this. You can do thiiiiiiiii-Your feet punches right through the surface of the water and you go tumbling forward. Landing in the shallows with a splash. Soaking your legs in freezing cold water. You do your best to ignore Sakura's giggles as you push yourself back up, feet sinking into the muck at the bottom of the lake.
Then you are interrupted by a crash, and a green blur erupting from the trees. "Ah! I see you have already begun your training! That's the spirit Tenten!" Then he blinks as he sees Sakura standing out on the lake, "Aha! and I see my eternal rival has taught you well Sakura! Excellent Work! Tenten! This is now a competition by proxy! Do not let my Rival beat me! Show her the true Power of Youth!"
You blink, "Uh..." Just give it up Tenten, it's not worth it.
Gai-sensei gives you some pointers and a few starting tips, before leaving you the rest to work out on your own with Sakura's help. It's frustrating work, chakra control has never exactly been your strong suit, and keeping the balance proves to...difficult. You do manage to eventually keep yourself above water with concentration, though it collapses as soon as you lose your focus. Like what happened when Sakura decided to do a cartwheel past you. Gai-sensei stops by every now and then to check on your progress.
By the end of the day you're soaking wet, and Sakura barely has a drop of water on her, but at least you managed to get it mostly figured out. Even if it's not quite instinctive yet.
Then, just as you're starting to finish up and dry off at the end of the day, the other member of your little trio bursts out of the forest. The blondes clothing has definitely seen better days, and her hair is an absolute mess, and her face is contorted in a rictus of rage "You two!"
You blink, but Sakura greets her mildly, "Oh hey Ino. How was your training?"
"How was my training?!" She screeches, "You two left me alone! With that maniac!"
"Oh whatever do you mean Ino? I thought it was going to be easy, you seemed so confident." Sakura gives her...friend? a beatific smile.
"Graaahh! You...stupid...You knew!" She pants through gritted teeth as she gets in up in Sakura's face. The two of them glaring at one another.
"Aha! Yes! Ino performed very well! Just like you Sakura, she possess the Power of Youth hidden within her! And she told me of your glorious rivalry to win the Uchiha boy's heart! Truly young love is a bountiful well of Youthful passion!"
The praise from your sensei seems to mollify Ino somewhat, but you don't pay attention to that. You're too busy going pale at the thought that you accidentally brought two rivals to be tutored by Gai-sensei together. You don't know if you can deal with another pair.
"But! To truly test your limits, I have one final task for all three of you! Sakura! Ino! You show potential! But you need to hold fast to your dreams! To never give up! To fight on against even when outmatched! That's where you can find the true springtime of Youth!"
Oh no, you really don't like where this is goi-"Tenten!"
You stiffen when Gai-sensei barks your name, "Yes sir?"
"I want you to give them a good fight, 2 against 1, use anything you want to fight them. I want you to test them, and also push yourself if you can." Your eyes light up as you turn to Sakura and Ino, okay, you were wrong. You like where this is going.
Sakura and Ino share a glance between themselves, and then look back at you. On your part, you're currently cradling a kunai knife in your hands. This is going to be fun.
You are now sparring with Ino and Sakura. What's your plan?
[ ] Go all out from the beginning, Gai-sensei said to test them right? Well, you're going to test them. (Tenten will use everything at her disposal to try and beat Ino and Sakura)
[ ] Hang back a bit, you want to give them a chance to show their stuff, nothing special until you need it. (Tenten will withhold from using charms until she starts to lose)
[ ] You're interested in seeing what they can really do, so you're going to make them pull that out. (Tenten is just going to dodge and weave, much like she did in her spar with Sakura.)
[ ] Stunt?
Poor Ino. Poor, Poor Ino. She probably should have asked Asuma what she was getting into before she went ahead and showed up for this. Would have made her life a whole lot easier.
And now they get to fight a Tenten that can use weapons. I'm sure this will go swimmingly for them. Though maybe it will be another bonding experience? Who knows.
Certainly not Tenten, who doesn't what to think anymore.
That went much better than I was afraid it might. 
