Now this was irritating.

[sparkplug_chan]

She had been within sight of her apartment. In fact, she'd been able to see her bedroom window from the street below said apartment before a breeze had kicked up. Unfortunately for her, she had been under the mistaken impression that closing her eyes against the dirt stirred up in this fashion would not be to her detriment.

She was wrong.

Her rather unimpressed gaze swept around the open area she found herself in the middle of, trying to pin down anything that might look like a seal. Anything to explain -how- this had just occurred. Her search turned up nothing, instead leading to her resting her fingers on the hilt of her blade, relic that it was, to feel the hum of leashed electricity that always answered the gesture.

It was soothing, and she could use that just now. After all, she wasn't the diplomat of her team. No, that was, contrary to popular belief, actually Naruto's job. Shaking off the thought, she headed toward what looked to be shops. She was going to interrogate a local.

Now to remember not to look like she was threatening them while doing it.

Comments

[bunsofsteel]

Sasuke? Tenten paused, head tilted as she spots the other. He wasn't supposed to be out today, she'd told him she was going to do the shopping. She'd rather thought he and Itachi would be going at it right about now, if she knew the elder Uchiha the way she did.

Thus, it's a pleasant surprise to run into the other, enough so that she calls on all her stealth to pad in behind him, leaning to try to brush her lips over his cheek. "Sasuke-kun~"

[sparkplug_chan]

She jerked, pivoting in place as he fingers tightened on her blade, the Hitai-ate that had rather blended into the cloth of her outfit actually visible as she did, if one looked down. She was using it as a belt again.

Still, she didn't attack, and in spite of her quick movements was entirely relaxed. On the other hand, confusion was already clouding her face, though it was quickly stomped behind irritation. "I have no idea what you're playing at Tenten, but I am not amused."

[bunsofsteel]

"Uh--!!"

That... wasn't... Sasuke. Her cheeks go a bright red as she just stares at the other, not expecting such a feminine voice and face. Flicking her eyes over the other, the forehead protector around her waist is enough to prove that he -- she -- isn't a missing-nin, but how...?!

"S-sorry," she all but squeaks, eyes wide. "I thought you were... someone else..."

[sparkplug_chan]

"I would believe that if you hadn't used my name Tenten." Her voice was rather flat, and she rolled her eyes. "Did Hinata put you up to this? I thought she'd been less determined lately..."

She paused, then shook her head sharply. "Where are we?"

[bunsofsteel]

"N-no, really, I thought you were--" She holds up both hands, still unsettled to see Sasuke as such. Itachi as a child, okay, that had taken some getting used to, but she'd managed it. After all, at least he'd been the same gender! Sasuke was surprisingly pretty!

She lets out a heavy sigh, shoulders slumping as she stares at the other. "Michi no Sato, Jiten no Kuni," she answers after a moment with a long-suffering sigh. "No way back to Konoha, no way to find Hi no Kuni. We've been summoned here for whatever reason, along with a whole slew of other shinobi."

[sparkplug_chan]

"You thought I was... what?" She listened to the rest though, a frown touching her lips as she considered the information. Hmph.

Well, wouldn't that just be a laugh. Perhaps it was something not unlike the alternate dimensions of summons, in which case... Naruto's area. Again. Great.

[bunsofsteel]

"It's... hard to explain..." She groans quietly and rests a hand on her hip, unabashedly glancing over the unexpectedly-female Sasuke to see the differences between her and her own Sasuke. "But uh. I'm assuming you're not using that dumb technique of Naruto's, so... uh." Her other hand comes up to rub at her temples and sigh. "You'll learn about something called 'timelines' and other crap like that. Right now, I promise that we don't know each other. The Sasuke I know is, uh. Male."

Definitely male, though she had to admit that right now, visually, there wasn't as much of a difference as she might have thought.

[sparkplug_chan]

She stared at her for a -very- long moment at this, studying her face and body with calculating, skeptical eyes. Hmph.

"Fine. I'll accept that. Male though? Really? Strange."

[bunsofsteel]

"Definitely male." Her cheeks go a little pink in spite of herself, but at least she could say that was true beyond any shadow of a doubt.

It's her turn to give her a careful look, head tilting. "You're accepting this pretty well."

as promised~

[itachi_san]

One of those said locals was walking back from the market. Even though he probably shouldn't have even been out of bed, he still insisted upon doing at least a few minor chores around Mikoto's house. She begrudgingly allowed him to go pick up a few groceries, just as long as he didn't overtax himself.

Bwahaha

[sparkplug_chan]

The last thing she'd expected to see was Him. Her breath froze in her chest as her entire body stiffened and she drew in a sharp breath as first rage, then the sharp intensity of -wanting to know- hit her.

Fingers going painfully tight on her weapon, she stalked up to the man, ready to defend herself if needed, or to attack. No contingency on that, just -ready-.

Her voice was low, almost a growl as she go within easy speaking, and for her striking, distance. "You."

[itachi_san]

Itachi looked up sharply. The voice was completely new, but the chakra was oddly familiar. The person standing before him was obviously a young girl, but she looked so very much like Sasuke... right down to the sharingan!

He knew it was possible for multiple versions of people to appear in this village at any age. The younger versions of Orochimaru and himself were proof of that. But was it possible for people to appear in different genders as well?

"... Are you... Sasuke?"

[sparkplug_chan]

The question made her twitch, and her fingers went white knuckled on the hilt of her blade as she gave a single sharp jerk of her head. "We're talking. Now."

[itachi_san]

He kept his sharingan firmly on this strange girl. Whereas he could generally keep Tenten from actually attacking him, he wasn't so sure about this female Sasuke... if that's who she actually was...

After all, his death would be the goal of any Sasuke, male or female. But he hated to simply hand it over to one he didn't even know.

"Fair enough."

[sparkplug_chan]

"Good. Why? Answers. Now." She was practically vibrating in place, and all she could think was that her anger would be so much simpler to check if Naruto were with her. But he wasn't. No, whatever happened had effectively cut off -that- option.

[itachi_san]

He supposed this Sasuke meant the obvious... the massacre, the death of their parents, their family, their entire clan. It would be easy to lie, to say it was merely to test his strength, his capacity. He'd said it a thousand times to his own Sasuke. This girl probably heard it all too.

But what would that solve? What would his own death solve? Would vengeance be enough to take away the pain? This was a village of second chances, right?

"... Come with me. This is not a conversation to have on the streets."

[sparkplug_chan]

She narrowed her eyes but just jerked the hand not on her blade to indicate he should get walking.

[orange_dattebayo]

"Thank you very much and come again!"

Stupid Orochimaru and Itachi and Kabuto and anyone else involved in destruction of his house. Naruto grumbled under his breath as he left the store, carrying bag with some basic utensils. Way to go and destroy everything he found.

"THEY SHOULD BE ONES BUYING THIS DATTEBAYO!" he exclaimed loudly, not caring that people gave him weird look as he stomped down the street.

[sparkplug_chan]

The yell made her stall out, and even after Tenten's declaration when she first arrived here, she couldn't help the immediate thought that it was -most likely- her Naruto. Though, she thought she'd beaten that verbal tic mostly out of him. Still, in any case, it was enough to have her changing direction entirely, sinking herself down so her chakra was a bit less fire bright, and creeping up behind him. If he -was- her Naruto, he would feel her there regardless because of the tracking seal on her.

If it wasn't, well, then she was about to startle the hell out of him when she put her hands on his shoulders.

[orange_dattebayo]

Naruto froze. And promptly dropped everything he was holding, jumping several feet away and spinning around, ready to fight.

"I WILL---" but whatever he wanted to shout at the 'enemy' never left his mouth.

There was Sasuke in front of him. Girl Sasuke. This must be some kind of joke.

"Teme? What are you doing dressed like THAT dattebayo!?"

[sparkplug_chan]

"Well, that answers that question." She looked him over in a somewhat despairing sweep of her eyes. "And you're back in eyesore orange. I thought I'd seen the last of those monstrosities when we were ten."

[orange_dattebayo]

"That answers what question?!"

Oi, oi! Is this new type of harassment from Sasuke? Sure it's completely brain-melting (in all sorts of way) but he didn't think that Sasuke would actually... dress as girl just to mess with his head.

"HEY! My clothes are just FINE dattebayo! Compared to YOURS! Why are you dressed as a girl?!"

[sparkplug_chan]

She stared at him for a moment, then huffed. "Right." She moved forward, stepping around the felled shopping to lean in until they were almost nose to nose, one of her hands grabbing his wrist.

"The question of if you're -my- Idiot or just a random Naruto. As for the clothes... you and I have a deal. You don't wear neon, and I bother with -color-."

[orange_dattebayo]

Too close! Girl-teme is TOO CLOSE! Why is she so close!? And her idiot?

He stumbled backwards a step or two, subsiding the sudden flush of embarrassment:"Oi! What are you talking about 'tebbayo!? We never had that kind of agreement! I wear what I want!"

Wait- why is she still holding his wrist?

"AND DON'T CALL ME RANDOM DATTEBAYO!"

[sparkplug_chan]

She tightened her fingers and quickly reclosed proximity with amused little smirk. "Let's clear up some confusion. The deal was -mutually beneficial-, was with my idiot, not you it seems. You're one of those people who know a boy me, yes?"

She tilted her head. "Which begs the question of your skittishness because I can't imagine why you're so twitchy."