Tenten

“Hey, Tenten.” Naruto only just barely held in the wince at his rather lackluster greeting, but he couldn’t help it.

Everyone from Team 9 was a sore spot to him, mainly because he had failed them so badly during the war. His carelessness caused Neji to die, his inability to heal Gai lost the world one of its best Shinobi and Lee a sensei, and who had to be there to pick all the shattered pieces off the ground?

Tenten.

“Hey, Naruto.” The weapons mistress greeted him casually without any hint of the bitterness he was sure she was feeling inside her voice. She had with her a small bag, which filled him with curiosity. Seeing him gaze at it, the woman blushed a bit and hid the thing behind her. “Ah, sorry, I was out shopping when I realized I needed to use the restroom, but my plumbing is currently getting looked at and everyone I know is on the other side of the village. That’s when I remembered you lived in the area and wanted to know if I could use yours?”

That… Sounded beyond convoluted, but who was he to tell her no, so with a nod, the girl utilized speed he’d never seen her use before to vanish into the bathroom before he could blink and slam the door behind her and locked it in record time. Even his towel and hair ruffled from the air that blew past him from the **** of her charge for relief.

A dull thud brought his attention to the ground where the small black plastic bag she had with her collided with the floor, seemingly forgotten in her rush to use the can. Worried that her purchases might have been damaged in her haste, he marched forward and leant down to pick it up.

Bringing it up to look at it directly, he shook the bag a little, but whatever it was didn’t sound broken, or it might have just been something not easily broken apart, but could still be cracked or even dented. Not knowing he probably shouldn’t be looking at other peoples belongings, he peeked into the bag to double check that everything was okay.

Many emotions passed across his face. Shock. Terror. Confusion. But the most prevalent of them all was curiosity. He didn’t know why she would buy this and then just leave it for him to find, but damn if this thing didn’t catch his attention now that he knew what it was.