#as well as the parallels about the cheating and the lack of total confirmation around that

[muninnhuginn]

Post s2e9 confirmations and speculations as of this ep, starting with confirmations and moving on to thoughts/speculations.

Before I start, just going to link my speculations as of a couple of episodes ago here because they're surprisingly either still relevant or have been confirmed either way. Of these, the main pieces still outstanding are Liu Min's phone and the serial murders.

Fountain boy low-key confirmed to be Liu Min's younger brother (Liu Xiao, apparently?). He knew Tianchen would soon be given the opportunity to "hunt" and lo, there is Liu Min (who even vaguely recognised Tianchen which makes sense if he's an acquaintance of his brother's). His own surname is Liu and obviously that's a pretty common name, but the fact he had someone driving him around means he's pretty rich and, well, son of a games company CEO seems pretty rich indeed. Apply law of conservation of detail and this one is now locked in at 95%. Fountain boy = Liu Xiao = "hunter" = hat guy (the last I'm a bit less certain of, but again, conservation of detail and there aren't many episodes left).

I'd been wondering about the weird focus the neighbour got in terms of his gaming so him being someone Liu Min wanted taken care of made that entire side of things click for me. Liu Min was terminally online and so was the neighbour. Tianchen must've thought it karma that he had this opportunity.

Third story: Tianchen as red eyes, going further and further as Tianxi is forced to watch until he goes too far even for her - at which point she broke free and tried to appeal to Lu Guang (but why him?). (All that said, Tianchen claims he killed both their parents, but we didn't actually see it properly in any of the flashbacks which could just be because they're being careful with the censors but I'm still side-eyeing it until we see exactly what happened. After all, there was no knife in the picture when we left the scene.) Tianxi's story I'm presuming is simply an animated version of what Tianxi is showing Qiao Ling to tell her story.

Speaking of, Tianxi "broke free" in her school uniform and that was also how she was found. Does that place the hoodie scenes in the hospital as before she fled? Because rewatching a bit of ep 4 and it seemed that QJ was talking to Tianchen-as-Tianxi then (could be wrong, 'Tianxi' never spoke that we heard in this scene but it being actual Tianxi rather than Tianchen raises so many more questions) which would imply she was missing after the hospital and that's when they implemented the disguising plan. Thinking about the "sorry" scenes in the third story and wondering if Chen Bin was the final straw for Tianxi.

First/second story: The Romeo and Juliet backstage they're at was indeed as I saw a few people speculating a production featuring Qian Jin's wife and her co-star. Tianchen "I killed them both" @ Qian Jin: wow he just like me fr. (But nah this definitely raises more questions about the murder of his wife). (Also, just to note that I'm putting the different perspective of QJ meeting LTX and LTC down to the unreliable nature of Xiao Li relaying info initially rather than alternate timelines. Can't rule it out, of course (and the blood on Tianxi in only one of the tellings has me even more hesitant), but unreliable narrator seems an easier fit at this stage. We also know QJ doctored the case files and if LTC outright told him "I killed them both" then that sure didn't make it to the files.)

Qian Jin's motives now back up in the air. Initially it seemed as though he wanted the powers so he could bring his wife back, but with the revelation that he had reason to believe she was cheating (and pregnant with the person she was cheating on him with) the idea he would want her back seems... a lot less likely. Also, his break from morals is placed a lot earlier than it seemed from the outside. Those in the police thought he was outstanding etc etc until his wife died, but he was gone long before that. Ultimately, in both cases with alleged cheating it doesn't matter if the person themselves was cheating because they didn't deserve to be killed for it, but it is fascinating that we're presented with these two similar scenarios from two entirely different perspectives. Li Tianchen and Tianxi as victims of domestic abuse by the person who believes they're being cheated on whilst Qian Jin is the role of the husband who believes he's being cheated on. (The way the pregnancy reveal is played - QJ not seeing his wife often because he was always at work, her startling when caught on the phone - it does seem like he takes the pregnancy as confirmation that she was cheating as the pregnancy couldn't have been with him. She's already dead at that point though.)

With the current timeline we have, I don't know whether QJ engineered the initial killing of his wife (and the fact the culprit escaped legal justice actually kinda makes me think that he didn't), but I do think he used Tianchen after the fact to set up the suicide and suicide note of the killer

The serial killings. We originally believed there were eight in total, starting with Emma. However, this episode shifts the timeline somewhat. Liu Min says thank you for dealing with "that woman", but he still seems to have use of his legs so presumably "that woman" isn't Emma and this is taking place beforehand. Which would imply there are a number of extra victims the police haven't uncovered. (The alternative is that this flashback was in a timeline before the Emma stuff went so wrong and Liu Min still had use of his legs? I'm really hoping it's not this because it'd break my brain a bit) This also somewhat explains how the police were unable to tie motives together for the serial killings if it was a killing-for-hire type scenario, though I do still somewhat believe there's some underlying logic that QJ either bought into himself or was able to make Tianchen buy into in order to believe the victims weren't "innocent"

#link click #link click spoilers #shiguang daili ren spoilers #this is less down the speculation end but I loved the intertwining metaphors in the entire 'hunter' thing throughout #as well as the parallels about the cheating and the lack of total confirmation around that #because it makes you compare the two scenarios and wonder #as well as qian jin and what he saw in li tianchen because I think he saw himself honestly #he didn't know at this stage about his powers so that's not why he took to him #(also. unrelatedly. I really don't think we're done with chen bin. he's a loose end (not) walking) #oh and I don't want to edit my older spec post but I do now think tianxi is the one with the phone double crossing the other two #which should be clear enough from what we now know but the whole hospital timeline is funky so thought I'd say

[herinsectreflection]

I've been a little bit obssessed lately with the Bangel/Fuffy/Spuffy continuum, and what it indicates about the way the show is received. There is a distinct gap between how Buffy's main love interests are perceived in fandom .vs. canon. Buffy clearly has three major love interests across the show - Angel, Spike, and Riley. But the fans see it differently. There are three clear favoured characters to ship with Buffy - Angel, Spike, and Faith. Faith is the clear third here, but she is still well ahead of any other character, and certainly ahead of of Riley, who is nonexistent in shipping discussions. When comparison posts collating Buffy's love interest patterns appear, they so often include Faith, but do not include Riley.

I think this is quite revealing. And not because of the relative strengths of Fuffy or Briley - that's not actually important here. It's revealing for what it tells us about each character and their role in the show.

Riley is defined by his opposition to Buffy's other love interests. This is intentional - he is the "normal relationship" that Angel broke up with Buffy to allow her to have. She states explicitly that this was his intended role in her eyes. Much of her romantic arc in S4 is about moving past her relationship with Angel and accepting that not all her romances are going to be like that, for good (she won't be left alone in bed by him) and bad (she won't have the fire/passion that she craves). He is the anti-Angel, and where his scenes parallel Angel's, it is to show his difference from him.

And then moving into S5, his role shifts. The writers clearly realise that his character isn't working as expected, and that the Buffy/Riley romance is not gaining any traction with the audience. They move Spike into the role of love interest and start seriously building up Buffy/Spike. So therefore Riley becomes positioned as the anti-Spike. He is the guy who can't satisfy Buffy's desires - as opposed to Spike who as her shadow self implicitly can, and Spike will repeatedly tell them both this. He is the guy who Buffy doesn't open up to or cry around, while Spike is the guy that she does. He is the guy who cheats on Buffy and blames her emotional unavailability, while Spike is the guy who is cheated on and has his emotional unavailability blamed. In S6 when he returns, he again stands in as the apparent good, healthy romantic partner that Spike is not. Riley becomes defined by not being Spike.

Faith, on the other hand, is constructed with intentional similarity to Buffy's other love interests. Her original arc in S3 is designed as a repeat of Angel's in S2, as I and others have gone into in details plenty of times before. Like Angel, she becomes close to Buffy early on, and represents someone that could draw Buffy away from her destiny/metaphorical adulthood. Her turn into evil and eventual fate being kissed and killed in the finale mirors Angel exactly. There are a dozen other little moments throughout the season that draw more parallels. She even shares the commonality of having an ironic religion-related name (Angel being an unholy demon, Faith being someone totally lacking in any). Whether or not you see the Faith/Buffy dynamic as romantic or not, this is undeniable - Faith is Angel come again.

Faith is of course also designed as Buffy's shadow self, representative of her repressed desires and darker side. And while I would argue that she owns this role for the entire series, on a practical level she can't perform it when she's not on the show anymore. So it is Spike that picks up the mantle after her exit. And Spike and Faith both perform this role in very similar ways, in a way that distinctly differs from Buffy's other shadow self (Cordelia). They attempt to actively goad Buffy into embracing their darker side, and will explicitly tell her what she wants (which Buffy will deny but then go on to clearly confirm their truth). In both cases, it is also tied up with their own projection and desires. They both also do a lot to link Buffy's dark side to sexuality and death. Spike is in many ways Faith come again. This ends up being reflected back again in S7, when Faith and Spike become mirrored as people who follow Buffy instinctively, who stick up for her when others don't, and who are the only other people Buffy really trusts by the end.

And then there are all the ways in which Angel/Faith/Spike make a clear common trio between them. They all fit the "bad boy/girl" archetype. They all start off with a belligerent relationship to Buffy. They are all at some point villains, even the Big Bad. They all end the series as redeemed sinners who are trying to be better people than they once were. They are all supernatural warriors who are defined by being one or two of a kind. They all look great in leather. None of these apply to Riley.

So of course when it comes to grouping the love interests, of course Faith gets included in the paralllels posts and Riley doesn't. It's not just because Faith/Fuffy is more popular than Riley/Briley. It's because, by design of the show, Faith fits alongside Angel and Spike, and is deliberately positioned as their equal in many ways, while Riley is intentionally written to be their opposite and unequal comparison.

#btvs #meta #shipping #angel #spike #faith lehane #riley finn #buffy summers

[setaripendragon]

Familiar Strangers - Ten: Tenten

One - Two - Three - Four - Five - Six - Seven - Eight - Nine - Ten Bonus scenes: Five-Point-Five - Seven-Point-Five Oh. My. God. I am dead. This chapter has been rewritten five times. I don’t know why it was so hard, maybe because I hadn’t actually planned for the story to take this turn, so I had no idea what I was doing, or maybe because Tenten seems like a character with so much potential that I just... don’t know enough about? Either way, it kicked my butt so hard, and I’m so sorry it took so long. So, here, now you get to find out where Naruto went.

Training with Gai-sensei was exhausting. Tenten leaned back against a large boulder, letting her body recover from the arduous training. She was using the time to tend to her weapons, sharpening the ones she’d used and making sure they were clean and undamaged. It was steady, soothing work, made all the more pleasant by Neji’s silent presence beside her. They’d both taken turns getting the snot kicked out of them by Gai-sensei, and now it was Lee’s turn. Again.

A sudden presence had her looking up, and to her surprise she saw Kakashi-san approaching, another Konoha shinobi – wearing a happuri face guard like the Nidaime’s statue – trailing along in his wake. Usually, Gai-sensei’s Eternal Rival took great pains to avoid her sensei, and by extension, her team, but here he was, on their usual training ground. “Yo.” He greeted, when he was close enough to be heard without shouting.

“Hatake-dono.” Neji greeted, inclining his head politely.

Kakashi-san waved a hand dismissively, but didn’t, as he usually did, protest the honorific. “Where’s Gai?” He asked them instead, looking around as if he suspected Gai-sensei might spring out of the bushes and attack him. To be fair, Gai-sensei had done that before.

Tenten glanced over her shoulder. The clearing behind them was empty of either Gai or Lee. “Um…” She began, uncertain. They were probably still on the training ground somewhere, but that was a pretty large area to search. She looked to Neji.

Neji rolled his eyes and activated his byakugan for a heartbeat. Before he could actually answer, though, there was a rush of displaced air, and an orange-clad ninja skidded to a stop beside Kakashi-san. “Oi, oi!” Naruto protested loudly. “I’m coming with you, Kaka-nii, so don’t you dare leave me behind!”

“Maa… I thought you’d be faster.” Kakashi-san drawled.

Naruto harrumphed, and crossed his arms. Then his gaze caught on Tenten and Neji, and his expression brightened considerably. “Tenten! Neji! How’s it going?”

Tenten smiled a little tentatively in return. It wasn’t as though she and Naruto were particularly close friends, after all. Neji, she knew, had a great deal of respect for him, and Lee got on with him remarkably well, but she had never had much cause to talk to him, herself. Yet, he was looking at her, more than Neji, for an answer. “Pretty good.” She answered with a shrug. “We’ve been training all morning.”

Naruto looked around the battered training ground and snickered. “Yeah, I can tell. So where’s Fuzzy-Brows-sensei and his mini-me got to? Only, we’ve got a mission to get to, and the Hokage told us to take Yamato and Fuzzy-Brows-sensei with us, for moral support.” He explained, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at Kakashi-san. The other shinobi – Yamato – gave a polite nod and a wry smile at his fleeting introduction.

Tenten fought to restrain a wholly inappropriate giggle at the excessively long-suffering expression that Kakashi-san pulled at Naruto’s back. “Gai-sensei is very good at that.” Neji agreed, with a perfectly straight face, and so deadpan it was impossible to tell if he was being sarcastic or not. Tenten buried her face in her hands to hide the fact that she was laughing.

The look Naruto gave Neji was half way between amused and suspicious, and it was almost as funny as Neji’s complete lack of expression. “Hell yeah, he is.” Naruto settled on saying, not at all sarcastically.

Kakashi-san eyed him much more warily this time. “You cannot be serious.” He deadpanned. Neji huffed softly in what could, possibly, have been amusement, and touched Tenten’s arm as he got to his feet. Their eyes met for a second, and the tilt of Neji’s head told her he was going to go fetch Gai-sensei before this conversation got even more bizarre. She nodded to show she understood, and he walked off.

Tenten’s attention was drawn back to Naruto as he said, fairly loudly; “You know, that whole pretending you don’t like him thing got old three years ago, believe it! Fuzzy-Brows-sensei is weird, but, Kaka-nii, everyone we know is weird. This is Konoha.” He shrugged, and grinned in a way that showed off just a few too many teeth to be entirely friendly. Tenten blinked, because even with as little time as she’d spent around the boy, she didn’t think she’d ever seen an expression like that on his face before. “And Konoha just wouldn’t be Konoha without its beautiful green beast!” Naruto cried, over-dramatic and gesturing wildly.

Kakashi-san gave a dramatic little shudder. “You’ve been spending far too much time with Shiranui-san.” He huffed, which only made Naruto laugh.

“Genma-san?” Tenten questioned, bewildered.

Naruto blinked at her. “Yeah?” He responded.

“I didn’t know you knew Genma-san.” Tenten stated, fishing for an explanation. It wasn’t as though she knew him particularly well, but he was a good friend of Gai-sensei’s, and he’d helped her with her senbon technique several years ago. And he was one of the few people who didn’t look at Gai-sensei sideways, like they were afraid of catching something off him.

“Oh, well…” Naruto began, uncharacteristically hesitant. “I do and I don’t?” He hedged, which made Tenten narrow her eyes at him, confusion and suspicion building inside her in tandem. “Apparently I don’t in this world? In my world, he was my jounin-sensei.” He explained quickly.

That didn’t make any sense at all. Tenten stared at him, waiting for the laughter, the real explanation, something. Instead, Naruto just waited expectantly, as though he was just giving her time to catch up to the totally reasonable thing he just said. Tenten slid her gaze to Kakashi-san, who shrugged one shoulder in a helpless gesture. Like he thought Naruto sounded crazy, but actually wasn’t, and he was resigned to that fact.

“…In… your world.” Tenten echoed slowly.

“Yup.” Naruto confirmed.

“As in, a world that isn’t this world?” Tenten checked, carefully feeling her way around the idea.

“Yup.” Naruto said again.

“So you’re saying that you’re… another version of Naruto from another version of Konoha? Like… some sort of parallel dimension?” Tenten asked, and got another ‘yup’ in answer. She thought about it, and eventually decided to stop thinking about it before she gave herself a headache. “You know what, I’ve seen seals that can do some pretty weird shit. I guess this isn’t so bad.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen one this weird, though.” Naruto returned. “And I grew up with a demon sealed in my gut.”

Tenten squeaked, a laugh and a gasp trying to escape at once and resulting in a very undignified sound of slightly horrified mirth. Naruto flashed her another grin that was more fanged than she was used to, pleased with himself for eliciting that reaction. “Do you think it was a seal that did this, then?” Tenten wondered, once she’d swallowed down her laughter.

Naruto’s face screwed up in deep thought. “Maybe?” He hedged.

“There are a lot of space-time seals, but I don’t think I know of any space-time jutsu that aren’t based in seals.” Tenten mused.

“I know of one, but it’s specific to the sharingan?” Naruto replied, wincing. “So, that wouldn’t really fit. And I guess a lot of seals revolve around space-time manipulation. Huh, never thought about it that way before, believe it.”

“The hiraishin is a space-time seal.” Kakashi-san pointed out, looking long-suffering.

“Well, yes, but that’s like, super special and rare, isn’t it?” Naruto shot back, pulling a face. “But storage seals are space-time seals, too, aren’t they? And summoning jutsu. And the seal on the Kyuubi. I’m pretty sure a giant manifestation of nature chakra wouldn’t fit in my stomach any other way, believe it. There’s a couple of stasis seals that probably have some space-time elements and- Oh, those really good strength-training weight seals have some similar base forms to the others, so maybe…” Naruto drifted off, squinting into the middle distance as he chased his train of thought.

Kakashi-san was staring at him with a very strange look on what was visible of his face. Then he cleared his throat. Naruto jerked, then chuckled apologetically, hand leaping up to the back of his head to fiddle with his ponytail sheepishly. “Sorry. I was just thinking that if this was a space-time seal, I might be able to come up with a reversal. I’d probably need someone else to activate it, though. I already have to cheat at the hiraishin.”

“You can do the hiraishin?!” Tenten yelped incredulously, unsure if she was delighted that such an awesome sealing technique was still known and being used, or envy that Naruto apparently could use it, even if he did apparently have to cheat, somehow.

Naruto shrugged and nodded. “Yeah. Genma-sensei taught me. Well, he taught me the bastardised version that you don’t need pinpoint chakra control for, because I still suck at that, believe it.”

“Genma has taught you the hiraishin, Naruto-kun?!” Gai-sensei exclaimed as he leapt out of the trees, blinding grin firmly in place and offering Naruto a thumbs-up in approval. “What a marvellous and daring achievement!”

Naruto beamed right back. “Thanks!”

Gai-sensei’s grin only got wider, and then he turned it on Kakashi-san to exclaime, “Greetings, my Eternal Rival!” with exuberance. Then he faltered, mouth open to continue, but no words coming out. After a long pause, he frowned. “Are you alright, Kakashi?” He asked solemnly.

Eyes widening in shock and no small amount of concern, Tenten turned to reassess Kakashi-san. But he looked just the same as ever to her. Still, Gai-sensei knew him better than just about anybody, so if he thought something was wrong with the other jounin, Tenten was going to trust his judgement. She sneaked a look at his two companions, and saw that they were both smiling, Yamato soft and faintly pained, Naruto wry and tiredly pleased. As if they’d been worried, too, and were glad Gai-sensei had asked.

Kakashi-san, on the other hand, looked actively uncomfortable at Gai-sensei’s questioning. He looked away, eyes on some distant horizon as if he didn’t care, but when he spoke, his voice was clipped and hard. “Obito might be alive.” He stated. “We’re going to look for him.”

Tenten had no idea who that might be, but Gai-sensei obviously did. His eyes went wide, and his mouth dropped open in a comical ‘o’ of shock. Feeling helplessly lost and rather worried about her teacher now, Tenten looked at Lee, who was hovering behind their teacher, to see if he recognised the name. He was closer to Gai-sensei, after all. But she caught him looking back, with equal bafflement on his face. He shrugged at her, concern wobbling in his big eyes.

“Um… who’s Obito?” Tenten dared into the silence.

Everyone turned to look at her, and she abruptly felt like she’d gone and stuck her foot in something delicate and fragile. She didn’t want to retract the question, though, so she bore through it, waiting. “Ah…” Gai-sensei began, with an uncertain glance at Kakashi-san, who was back to staring into the middle distance as if nothing could touch him. Tenten was beginning to realise just how telling that might actually be.

“He was Kaka-nii’s genin teammate.” Naruto jumped in. “He supposedly died in a cave-in on a mission ages ago, and Kaka-nii’s blamed himself ever since, like the dumbass that he is.” That got a reaction from Kakashi-san. He turned to stare at Naruto, intent and incredulous. Naruto grinned back, unrepentant and unabashed.

Gai-sensei laughed, loud and boistrous, tipping his head back in his mirth. “He’s got you there, my rival!” He exclaimed, seemingly as impervious to Kakashi’s glare as Naruto.

“I have it on very good authority that he wouldn’t blame you at all.” Naruto added, in a voice so quiet under Gai-sensei’s continued chuckles that Tenten suspected she wasn’t supposed to hear it. For a moment, she didn’t understand what Naruto could possibly mean by that. Then, slowly, it dawned on her that it was probably knowledge from this other world of Naruto’s. She wondered if this very good authority might not be this Obito person himself, and if that wasn’t where they’d gotten this sudden idea that he might not be dead after all.

“Well!” Gai-sensei boomed, loud enough that Tenten suspected she hadn’t been the only one to overhear that private remark. His eyes did linger a moment on Naruto, too, assessing, before he went on. “If there is even the slimmest possibility that our old friend and most spirited of comrades has survived, we shall not rest until we have overturned every pebble and twig in all the elemental countries!” Knowing Gai-sensei, that was not an idle promise.

“Thanks.” Kakashi-san said. It sounded reluctant, almost resentful, but if Gai-sensei noticed his tone, he didn’t react to it. Instead, he teared up, beaming at Kakashi-san, and went for a hug. To Tenten’s surprise, Kakashi-san allowed it, standing still as Gai-sensei latched onto him, so she guessed he probably was grateful, and just didn’t know how to express it like a normal person.

“Puppy pile!” Naruto cried, and joined in the hug.

“What? No. Get off.” Kakashi-san protested, but being held in place by Gai-sensei as he was, he couldn’t avoid Naruto. The blonde boy latched onto him with a grin. There was a moment where Tenten thought he might actually accept it, or possibly cry, but then there was a puff of smoke, and Naruto and Gai-sensei were suddenly clinging to an oversized log.

Kakashi-san reappeared next to Yamato, who patted him on the shoulder, looking less sympathetic, and more like he was trying not to laugh. After side-eyeing him for a moment, Kakashi-san turned to Gai-sensei and Naruto, who were disentangling themselves with much flailing and false annoyance. Tenten could tell it was false because neither of them could stop grinning. She shared a look with her team-mates, rolling her eyes in exasperation over their Sensei’s antics. Neji smirked, and Lee beamed, but there was also something confused in the way they watched Naruto flail and stagger into a vaguely upright position, using Gai-sensei as a support he clearly didn’t need in an attempt to subtly trip him. After a moment, it dawned on Tenten that, to someone who didn’t know that this wasn’t, well, the right Naruto, his behaviour must seem really off. It was… actually kind of funny.

“We need to get moving.” Kakashi-san stated pointedly.

Gai-sensei nodded, sobering somewhat. “What is the plan?” He asked.

“We’re going to investigate… his last known location. The trail will have long gone cold, but there may still be clues.” Kakashi-san explained haltingly.

“Hey, that’s a thought.” Naruto said suddenly, eyes lighting up with an idea. “Kurama might know something. Since he’s the only person still living that actually saw, uh, Obito, you know, that night.” He paused, then grimaced. “I’ll ask him when the bastard’s awake. He always gets so grouchy whenever Obito comes up, so if I wake him up to talk about him, he might not answer just to be a jerk, believe it. Oh, hey! Do you think the mokuton can sense itself, because that would be pretty cool-”

“Mokuton?” Gai-sensei asked loudly, cutting Naruto off in his shock.

“Kurama?” Yamato asked into the ensuing opportunity Naruto’s moment of silence provided.

Kakashi-san went very still, something like realisation slowly dawning in his visible eye, before he turned, slowly, to face Naruto. Naruto blinked at them all, as though he was confused by their confusion. Tenten thought she could see something mischievous in his eyes though, and even though she felt just as lost as everyone else, she also felt like she was in on the joke in some undefinable way. It was kind of hilarious watching Naruto confuse the hell out of everyone, even herself, with the unfair advantage of being from a parallel universe. “Yep.” He said simply, and smiled like that answered everything. “Oh! And if we get close, Kaka-nii, you ought to be able to tell. You’ll be able to see what he sees, because of your eye.” He added, gesturing at his own left eye.

“Naruto-kun! Are you implying that Obito-kun has mokuton?” Gai-sensei asked, not willing to let the subject go.

“Yep.” Naruto said again. “Well, if he’s alive, then yeah. Cause that’s how he survived, you know?” Gai-sensei stared at him, visibly struggling for words in the face of Naruto’s blithe confidence, and Tenten almost choked on her giggles. “We should get going. Meet at the gates in ten minutes? Is that enough time?” He checked.

Kakashi-san, Gai-sensei, and Yamato all nodded briskly, putting their confusion aside in that way that seemed unique to veteran shinobi. “Ten minutes.” Kakashi-san agreed.

“Good.” Naruto sighed in relief. “Only Sasuke is going to kick my butt so hard if this takes too long, believe it!” He announced. With a flash of a wicked grin that told Tenten that dropping that little bomb had been entirely intentional, he disappeared in a startlingly speedy shunshin.

The six of them stared at the spot where he’d disappeared.

“WHAT?!” Lee abruptly yelled.

“Did he actually…?” Neji began, sounding almost angry with his disbelief.

“That little brat.” Kakashi-san announced, impressed underneath his annoyance.

“He was being that confusing on purpose?!” Gai-sensei demanded of his Eternal Rival.

“Who’s Kurama?” Yamato asked, almost plaintively.

Tenten found she couldn’t say anything, because if she opened her mouth, she was going to laugh, and it probably wasn’t the moment for that sort of thing. So she bit her cheek and held it together as the adults all shared looks before shaking off their momentary shock. Kakashi-san vanished to prepare for the mission without so much as a goodbye, and Yamato went after him with only a brief polite smile by way of a farewell. Gai-sensei turned to them. “Well, my youthful students! I must be going on this most important of missions! Train hard while I am away! I will test you thoroughly once I return!”

“Yes, Gai-sensei!” Lee burst out on automatic, his expression still bewildered.

Neji gave an affirmative grunt, still scowling at the place where Naruto disappeared.

“We will, Gai-sensei. Work hard!” Tenten replied.

Gai-sensei saluted her, and darted off at an impressively fast run. The three of them stayed still and silent in his way for a long moment. Tenten could feel the tension building to breaking point between her two team-mates, and sure enough, a moment later, Lee turned to face her and Neji, and asked “Was it just me, or did it seem that Naruto-kun was the one in charge of that mission?”

“He was certainly the most knowledgeable.” Neji agreed. “Which makes no sense.”

“Exactly!” Lee burst out.

They both turned to Tenten, as though expecting an agreement. That was the last straw, being subjected to the full weight of their nearly offended bewilderment. Tenten gave up trying not to laugh, and bent double under the force of her laughter.

“Tenten!” Lee cried in betrayal, which only made her laugh harder.

Neji sighed, utterly long-suffering. “Please explain the joke, Tenten, when you have sufficient breath to do so.” He scathed, annoyed, which also only made it worse.

Tenten gasped for air, sides aching. She leaned back against the boulder she’d been sitting below when this all started, and wrapped an arm around her middle as if that would help. “Okay, okay!” She got out around her giggles, trying to force the mirth back enough to make her explanation intelligible. “So, while you were- were getting Gai-sensei, Neji, Naruto- he told me…”

#Naruto #Tenten #Uzumaki Naruto #Hatake Kakashi #Maito Gai #Yamato Tenzo #whatever his name is #Hyuuga Neji #Rock Lee #there was so much I wanted to include in this part #but the conversations just didn't flow in the right direction #Alt!Tenten and Alt!Naruto are totally sparring buddies #Alt!Team Genma and Alt!Team Gai get thrown together for training all the time #their friendship makes me happy #Familiar Strangers