one_long_mission | how did this even happen...

"Training is important. And the like." He smiles slyly, though it isn't outright teasing. It's just subtle, as he glances down into the cup held in his right hand. "Hmph. In a town that has no need of... say, spies and assassins, I suppose I could... juggle, or something."

Itachi! Her flush goes a little darker, but she still smiles pleasantly as if he wasn't making veiled references to their sex life. Or maybe she was only imagining it... In which case, what did that say about her?!

She can't help but laugh a little, resting her chin on her palm again. "Juggle? Really?"

"I haven't even heard word of trade, or tourists, so I'm honestly not sure how close another village even -is- to here." He shook his head slightly. "But juggling Obito-nii? Really? Surely that's not your best talent."

"I'm a man of many talents. Juggling happens to be one of the more non-lethal ones." He mimed a vague tossing-and-catching. "It's good for getting back... what's that word? Coordination. You know. Making your left and right work together."

She just nods, grin still tugging at the corner of her lips. "I'd like to see that, sometime. If you taught Itachi how to use kunai, I'd imagine you could juggle those, too, huh?"

A pause as she looks over him again, but she's not about to ask why he had to get coordination back. That seemed pretty rude for a first meeting.

Itachi gave him another long contemplative look. "I think you've managed beautifully Obito-nii."

There was a brief, genuine smile. "Well, don't think that until you've seen me try and juggle kunai." And he raises his eyebrows playfully at Tenten. Challenge accepted.

Her grin looks fairly innocent, but she's pleased that he took the challenge as it was. If this guy was Itachi's cousin, she had to know as much about him as she could. "I think I'd like to see that some time, Uchiha-san."

Itachi huffed a breath knowing that it was directed at both of them, so he leaned over and ran his fingertip over his cheek. "Unlike her, I didn't mean the juggling."

He met her gaze--amused and curious himself. "It would be my pleasure. Though, I can't promise it won't end in some sort of horrible tragedy." Just a joke. Though you never can tell, with juggling. And he leans into Itachi's touch, expression softening at the small display of tenderness. "You're too kind to me, little cousin."

Her eyes narrow as she follows Itachi's finger. There he was again with all this touching, like what she'd walked in on, and she didn't like it one bit.

"Hopefully not," she answers, grin freezing on her face as she resists the terribly strong urge to grab his arm and tug his hand away from the other's face. "Come on, Itachi, I thought with those eyes of yours, you'd be able to tell he's not genjutsu, you don't have to touch him."

"Not at all Obito-nii." Her words cause him to look over, and consequently pull back, and there was puzzlement written all over his face. "I'm not checking if he's -real-."

He watched Itachi's puzzled look and Tenten's smile and--oh. Ohh! There is just the tiniest glitter of mischief in his expression, probably there and gone to quick for them to catch.

She missed it completely, too busy looking over Itachi and trying to keep a frown from edging onto her lips. Was he really so ignorant about something like this. Favorite cousin or no, she didn't like him touching him so much, and she just shakes her head before turning her attention back to Obito.

"Well, maybe you should start with something that's not as bladed, huh?"

He noticed she was displeased with him, but he couldn't understand -why-. He sank back in his seat, picking up his tea as he went. Bewildered, he looked back to Obito.

"Not at all. If anything, we ought to pick something even heavier and pointier. Where's the fun if it's not a bit dangerous? But I will leave the choice up to you, my dear." He shook his head, just once form side to side, and pulled his hair over his shoulder. "Itachi, this braid is holding very well. Thank you, again."

Her smile is all teeth at his next statement. What was Itachi doing braiding his hair? "Perhaps kusurigama would be a nice challenge," she answers sweetly, her hand on Itachi's again.

"Of course it is. I'm fairly good with braids,mother taught me. You should learn if you're going to keep it, especially with the mess you made of it." He shook his head on a huff and looked to Tenten, taken aback by her expression. "Tenten...?"

"Ah, I concede that I probably couldn't manage that. The chains, you know. Things might get... tangled." His gaze moved to Itachi, and back to her. "You're right. I ought to learn to braid." And he perked slightly. "Your hair is lovely, Tenten-san. How long is it? Long enough to braid?"

She just smiles. "What a shame." Her fingers trace gentle patterns along the back of Itachi's hand as she watches his cousin. "Just past my shoulders. How else do you think I could get it up in these?" She gestures with her free hand to the twin buns atop her head. "It gets in the way sometimes, but I like it how it is."

"As do I." It was a murmur as he looked sideways at her. "You never leave it down long though."

He looked back to Obito. "Are you still as clumsy as you were when I was little or did you finally outgrow that?"

"If you take it down now, I could try braiding it for you." Obito suggested. "I'd be grateful for the chance to practice. That's just long enough. I couldn't do Itachi's, I don't think--too much of it." And his attention shifted to his cousin. He put a hand over his heart, mock-hurt. "Clumsy?"

Her eyes narrow at the corners. She's still not completely certain that she trusts this man enough to have him at her back, but she trusts Itachi enough to watch for her safety. Better he use her hair than Itachi's, anyway.

"I could braid it myself, but if you want to practice, that's fine," she says finally, drawing her fingers away from Itachi's hand to reach up with both hands, tugging the ties from each bun to let the hair fall down her back. A moment, then she passes one of the ties to Itachi. "If you want to fix yours," she murmurs, face turned away from Obito as she ostensibly gets herself into proper position for him to get behind her to braid, but communicating with her eyes that she expected Itachi to watch the other very carefully.

That, and she keeps a hand resting easily on her thigh, just above the two slits in the cloth that gave way to tape over her legs, tape concealing all manner of fun sharp things. Just in case.

Itachi gave them -both- a frown here. Especially given that Tenten kept brushing off -his- touching her since she sat down. He didn't understand the simmering hostile wariness as the undertone of the situation, but he didn't vocalize this, instead simply reaching up to tug his hair back into a tail as he looked from one to the other of them. "Yes, clumsy. I didn't think so then, but looking back, you were a walking disaster."

"I wasn't," he denied. And he got up and got behind Tenten, admiring the thick brown hair for a moment before he slipped his long fingers through it once, pulling down from top to bottom. Not a single tangle. "I mean there was Aunt Mikoto's vase that one time, sure. And maybe I wasn't great at getting out of the way of stuff Kakashi threw at me during training. And sure there was the one... the insignificant two times the library caught on fire. But walking disaster is putting it a little harshly."

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