Jūzō and Tenten became the most unlikely of friends. Despite his sharp teeth and his otherwise brutal appearance, he had a cynical and twisted sense of humor that somehow appealed to the little girl. During training, he was surprisingly laid back but that didn't mean he didn't train her any less. Most of it had to do with the fact that Tenten did all of the pushing for herself. The girl hated taking breaks, thinking of it as an excuse for her to become weaker.
She strengthened her arm muscles through push ups and pull ups. The girl conducted an insane amount of them for her age, sweat dripping down her back and forehead. She would run countless laps around the hideout, sometimes with weights attached until she would collapse from utter exhaustion and wouldn't wake up for hours. Jūzō somehow found himself to be the one to tell her take it a little bit easier but Tenten only gave him a slight glare that reminded him of her grandfather.
He wasn't exactly sure why the girl was so determined to become a shinobi, but he decided not to ask. People had their own personal matters.
Tenten was anything but a genius but as for effort, she had no limit in. Jūzō saw her potential in taijutsu and being that her aim was almost insane with her shuriken and kunai, he saw her becoming a taijutsu expert in the future. He decided to test her in ninjutsu once she had the fundamentals down. Perhaps he could teach her kenjutsu.
It took a good while before Jūzō grudgingly admitted that she had some kind of affinity with weapons as she trained harder and harder. Konan had recently allowed her access to Pein's private library which was now disused and the girl had been pouring over books about metalwork and the creation of weapons.
He had never seen anyone with a greater appreciation for cold steel.
Tenten often went down to the village to sit by blacksmiths, to see how they created such weapons. The girl almost had an obsession over them. The blacksmiths seemed to have a slight appreciation for the girl who wouldn't play with other children but would listen to their many stories. Tenten was a master at getting whatever she wanted. She would simply put on that innocent, childish look on her face and all of those foolish adults would bend to her will.
Jūzō wondered where she learned that skill from and noted that the girl might be skilled with infiltration. Tenten could now grip a weapon and understand how the steel was folded and if the weapon master had used a particular technique. She could understand the proper way of using the weapon even if she had never seen it before in her life.
Jūzō knew Kakuzu was not the friendliest of people. Actually, that was quite the understatement of the century. Kakuzu was flat out not friendly. However, Jūzō sometimes detected a quiet flare of chakra now and then while Tenten was training. When he would look back, the chakra would be gone.
For those who were young, years passed by quick. Tenten soon became eleven years old. She had found out that her Chakra nature was Earth. Jūzō, not knowing much of that nature, procured some scrolls on Earth jutsu. Tenten did not quite excel at it as much as taijutsu. She could perform the basic jutsu but she just didn't possess the fine tuned chakra control despite the strong chakra she inherited from her grandfather.
Slowly, the other Akatsuki members became used to her presence. Kakuzu's partner that she met would grunt at her occasionally but he was gone within the month. Apparently, her grandfather accidentally blew him up. The "accidentally" was according to her grandfather.
Orochimaru was still creepy, but Tenten got used to him and his overly long tongue.
As for Sasori, the puppeteer would always be inside his puppet. He often just stared at her through the eyes of his puppet. At one point, Sasori had to fix Hiruko, his puppet, and that was when Tenten saw his true form. He looked very young, with red hair that reminded her of the yarn that her grandmother would knit with. Tenten was a curious child. Drawing closer to Sasori, she saw him look up at her through his hooded brown eyes.
"What do you want, brat?" He asked callously.
"Your voice is different," Tenten said, eyes widening in amazement, "how did you make it super deep like before?"
Sasori looked at the girl before he rolled his eyes. "What concern is it of yours?"
Tenten shrugged, "I was just wondering."
Sasori turned to face the child, his eyes gazing upon her form. "What is your name?"
"Tenten."
"Your uncle is Kakuzu?"
"Hai."
Sasori looked upon the child. She was short but he could see the muscles that stood out in her arms underneath her clothing. He saw Jūzō training her from time to time.
Sasori was not the one to be interested in children. He found them annoying and impractical. But he could clearly see the child before him wasn't so stupid and naive as much as she acted like it. He could see a sliver of determination behind that small frame.
"Are you interested in puppets, Tenten?" He asked.
Tenten frowned, "You mean like dolls?"
Sasori's eye twitched but he could clearly see the mischievousness in her eyes behind the innocent facade.
"I'm more interested in weapons, Sasori-San," Tenten chirped.
"Weapons?"
"Yeah—" Tenten's eyes glittered in a way that only a weapons master would, "Jūzō-San is going to teach me kenjutsu tomorrow."
So the girl seemed to have an affinity for weapons. More likely, she would become a taijutsu expert. Taijutsu was the most fundamental of the three—a skill that was required for every shinobi.
"Are you any good at ninjutsu?" Sasori's eyes were devoid of any amusement.
Tenten's face fell slightly. "Not that good," she admitted.
Sasori's mind was already running with an idea. After all, she would eventually become part of the Akatsuki. "Come with me," he said tersely.
Tenten followed at his heels, as Sasori led her to his own workshop. Tenten's eyes widened when she saw the various puppets and the tools. "Woah—"her mouth dropped, "Do you make all of these?"
Sasori was unsure of how he felt. Perhaps he felt a bit flattered if that was the word.
"Don't touch anything," he warned as Tenten nodded after withdrawing her hand from a bottle of poison.
Sasori disappeared into the adjoining room before emerging with an armload of scrolls. "Tenten, do you know anything about fuinjutsu?"
Tenten frowned, "Fuin...jutsu?"
"The art of sealing," Sasori said simply as he dropped the scrolls and unrolled one. There was an intricate pattern on it, shaped like a circle.
"Summoning no jutsu!" He placed his hand on the center of the scroll and with a puff of smoke, several puppets appeared.
Tenten looked with amazement.
"How did you do that, Sasori-San?"
"Fuinjutsu can be used for many things, but mostly, you can store objects inside scrolls so that you can carry out objects for long distances and summon them when you require them," Sasori explained, "in my case, I use them to summon my puppets. Since you have a talent with weapons, perhaps you can carry them in your scrolls."
"How can I start?" Tenten asked eagerly.
"Fuinjutsu requires precision," Sasori said, "you can't make a mistake with the jutsu formula and you need sufficient chakra control."
Tenten sagged a bit at the chakra control, but she dutifully dropped down beside Sasori and listened to his teaching.
A new routine followed. After training with Jūzō, Tenten would retire to Sasori's workshop, where she would learn more about Fuinjutsu each and every day. Sasori was quite literally an emotionless block of wood, but even despite himself, he found a strange companionship with the little girl. She wasn't that annoying for a child and she knew respect well enough. Sasori would never have admitted it but he did find that the workshop became less lonely, less empty, with the little brat around.
Tenten sealed her first weapons inside her scroll. Needless to say, she was thrilled.
Kenjutsu with Jūzō was turning out surprisingly well. The girl learned the stances well, her brain speeding ahead of her mentor to each move.
Taijutsu was fundamental. Tenten would become the master of the fundamentals.
Tenten started going on missions with Jūzō. The Akatsuki were sent on all manners of missions and they never refused a commission. Jūzō and her were sent on a mission to capture two missing nin. Tenten had yet to earn the Akatsuki cloak but she looked fairly imposing with her scrolls at her hips and her tantō sheathed.
The tantō had been extremely well crafted by the blacksmith who had given it to her for half the price. Tenten loved the feel of it in her hands and the way it raced through the air with little hindrance. Tenten moved with a certain feline grace, her eyes alert and her feet not making the slightest noise. They boxed the missing nin between them and a mountainside.
Jūzō took out his executioner's blade, his eyes gleaming as Tenten moved a few paces from him to provide support for him. "Cover my back, kid," Jūzō said as he lunged at the both of them, his blade cleaving between them. The first missing nin wove several hand signs as he blew a gigantic fireball that seared towards them.
"Earth Style! Mud wall!" Tenten slammed her hands in the ground as the barrier appeared between them, blocking out the flames.
Jūzō lunged, using the wall to get the higher ground before his sword slashed through the first missing nin, who was cut cleanly in two. Blood spurted through the air as Tenten felt it spatter her face despite her being quite a distance away. The smell of iron cloyed her nostrils but she refused to lower her guard as the second one lunged at her, probably underestimating her.
Tenten dodged his kunai swipe, crouching into a ball before she swung her tantō upwards, stabbing it straight into his throat. Blood, this time, blinding her in its bright scarlet. The man sputtered, clutching his throat before Tenten slashed it sideways, his head flying off as he collapsed to the ground. He was dead before he reached the ground.
Tenten stayed still for a moment, looking into the man's dead eyes.
Killing was supposed to be wrong.
But Tenten didn't feel any regret.
She looked down at her blade, stained red. Red swam in her vision.
"Nice work, kid," Jūzō whistled, "you nailed him good."
She was praised for killing.
"I just polished this," Tenten muttered as she looked down at her tantō before Jūzō laughed and ruffled her hair.
"We still need to dump them in the Collection Office," The Akatsuki member said, looking down at the bodies, "I can carry both of them. Do you want to carry the head?" He gestured towards the missing nin she just killed, teeth bared in a slight twisted smile.
Tenten grabbed the head as Jūzō took the two bodies.
As soon as they got the money for the bodies, Tenten took her share and placing a portion in it for saving as taught by her grandfather, she used the rest of it to buy herself a bow and a quiver of arrows.
She didn't want to rinse off the red every single night from a blade.
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