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.

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.

[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."

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."

[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."

[sparkplug_chan]

She hitched up a shoulder. "I live with Naruto and you've never been a liar."

She really felt that should be explanation enough.

[bunsofsteel]

"You're... more familiar with me than I am with you, then," she points out cautiously, hand still on her hip. "Where I'm from, before we came here, we... never really spoke. Well, I mean, me and him. Not you." She groans again, bringing one hand up to rub her face. "This is so strange, sorry."

[sparkplug_chan]

"We talk. Neji usually takes off with Hinata and Lee drags Naruto off, so I end up practicing with you when our groups get together. It started after Naruto and I came back from the training trip a few weeks ago." She watched her, noting the complete lack of recognition of this situation.

Weird.

[bunsofsteel]

"At least Neji and Hinata are on good terms..." she breathes a small sigh of relief through her nose and closes her eyes for a moment. So he wasn't that Neji. A beat, then a frown curves her lips, though her eyes sparkle in amusement. "Hey, don't say that like you get stuck with me or something."

[sparkplug_chan]

She shook her head. "You are the only one in the group that actually appreciates my sword." She turned in place so that the girl could see it. "It's the Raijin no ken and Naruto pouts at me every time I decide he needs to practice sword work with me because of it."

[bunsofsteel]

She'd noticed the sword before and had had to resist the urge to draw it when she'd thought this girl was her Sasuke. Now that it was right before her, her eyes don't waver from it, fingers flexing. "It's beautiful," she says, looking it over more than a little enviously. "The others can be pretty barbaric about weapons, really."

[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]

She nodded crisply. "I went out of my way to get my Idiot his blade. It nullifies lightening specifically if it makes contact with it. Though I will say I've been smacked on the knuckles far too many times with it because he gets lazy." She looked a bit irked by this, but shook her head.

[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."

[bunsofsteel]

"Your idiot?" she repeats, brow furrowed with a little bit of confusion. "Who's that?"

[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]

She blinked back at her in perplexity before remembering. "Right... your Sasuke is male. That probably negated the entire 'getting a fiance at six' thing. Naruto."

[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."