Tenten

Your Number One Fan!

Kaa-chan had started teaching me to read and write japanese by the time I was two years old, so when I told her that I wanted to hit the books, she wasn't surprised. She had almost immediately taken me straight to the library. The civilian section was pitiful in how little it contained, but to my surprise, Kaa-chan completely bypassed it.

"Where are we going?" I asked, looking curiously behind me at the civilian section.

Kaa-chan grinned down at me, "To the academy student section."

My eyebrows furrowed, as I peered back up at her, "But Kaa-chan, I'm not in the academy..."

My mother puffed up proudly, "Didn't you know? Kaa-chan was a Chunin before she retired to make weapons for all the Shinobi."

I stared up at Kaa-chan, new appreciation for her shining in my eyes. She continued dragging me along until we got to the academy student section. She turned to me happily. "Go wild, Ten-chan!" She encouraged, pushing me a little into the rows of books.

I grinned and darted through the shelves. Shinobi History of The Nations? Getting that. Intro to Konoha Politics? Getting that. Ikebana 101? Getting that. By the time I was done picking out books, I had a stack bigger than I was. Luckily, Kaa-chan had followed me down the aisles and was carrying most of the books. I finally looked up at her, "I think that's enough for a while!" I chimed happily.

Kaa-chan smiled proudly at me before we started making our way to the checkout. I chattered about anything and everything, like how excited I was to be learning all of this, and how I was going to need her to sit by me so I could ask her about the words I didn't know. I threw in mention of buying some notebooks, so I could write down anything I thought was important, and Kaa-chan laughed heartily.

"Well, looks like we know what our next stop will be, huh, Ten-chan?" Her voice was heavily amused, and for good reason I should think. I got excited about a lot of things. Some of them were utterly ridiculous. I would giggle when my feet made a noise while slapping into the ground, or get disproportionately excited about Kaa-chan buying strawberries. She usually found these things amusing, and I let her. She probably wouldn't find it as funny when I was twelve, but hey, if she was happy now.

The librarian was wearing what I assumed to be a chunin vest, and when she looked up, she immediately smiled. "Miyuki! Been a while!"

My mother's face changed to the one she usually used for people other than me and Tou-chan. It was serene and peaceful, with a slight smile. To me, it looked a bit like the face a benevolent goddess would make, but then again, I had a bit of a flair for the dramatic. "Ah, Kagame, good to see you again," her voice was suddenly quieter, and I could already hear the bit of pride creeping into her tone.

"I have to ask about the books, though. They're a bit basic for you," The chunin, Kagame said, clearly unable to see me where I was standing. The desk she was sitting at was more than a little ways over my head.

"Oh, they're not for me," Kaa-chan picked me up off the floor, "I guess you never got the chance to meet my daughter, Tenten," her voice was now latent with pride. Kaa-chan got a thrill from showing me off, and I let her. If I wasn't going to hide my 'intelligence', It was really my own damn fault. "Say 'Hi' Ten-chan."

"Hello, Kagame-san," I said in a happy, childish tone.

Kagame smiled brightly and cooed at me, "Oh she's precious! Must be a little genius too, if you're getting all those books for her!"

Kaa-chan smiled proudly, like a peacock preening its feathers. "I might not say genius..." Her humility was entirely fake, and all three of us knew it.