Mission to the Land of Waves - 1

The small tea house that Haku had selected was a place completely and utterly alien to Tenten. It was a popular 'date-destination' and she had never been taken anywhere before.

'I like tea, so why haven't I ever set foot in a place as mundane as a tea house?' It wasn't as if she needed an escort to take her to local hubs.

Haku looked to her while she thought and she gave him her most convincing smile, 'Well, being uncultured isn't as bad as smelling of body odor...and I definitely do right now.' Her afterthought made her flinch; she couldn't do anything about it.

Tenten was not the sort of person to be pointedly self-conscious, but Haku had put her totally on the spot after training with Hyuga Neji, of all times, and taken her to a nice café while she was still bruised and sweaty and out of breath.

And yet, somehow, she hadn't bothered to voice this distressing matter to Haku at all because she was to say the least...so very astounded that he had even brought her anywhere for purposes other than training.

Tenten couldn't quite bring herself to complain either.

It was Haku.

Who, despite her disheveled state, still wanted to get to know her; which was a true first on all accounts, 'Lee doesn't really count and Neji...Neji doesn't care to know anyone really, so I should relax and have fun! Or...enjoy myself, yes, that sounds about right...'

Tenten didn't deny that he had flair, as Haku sat across from her at a smaller, more secluded table, still smiling. Not that he appeared to be a complete flirt...because it was hard for her to accept that anyone would want to flirt with her.

"Your sensei and um, Lee; they're very passionate," Haku was considerably polite so she refrained from laughing at the use of the word 'passionate,' "All the energy on your team...how do you and Neji-san keep up with them?"

A very relevant question indeed.

"That's the funny thing," Tenten said while inspecting a lovely patch of bruising skin above her elbow, "We don't exactly 'keep up' at least...we're at a different pace than they're at."

Haku gave her a mild look so she continued, "Well, I can't say for sure that we're even on the same planet, though we may be on the same team."

It was odd how seriously Tenten had meant it.

Haku's smooth chuckle pierced the air right on time, and it was then she knew why he was desired by nearly every girl in the Ninja Academy...or the majority of Konoha most likely.

He wasn't perfect but he was somewhere dangerously close to it.

She then acknowledged on the most minimal, harmless level that existed that she was attracted to him. 'No use in making a raucous about it.'

A waitress came by for their orders, unanimously jasmine tea, and then left quickly. She was unable to stop herself from blushing.

Tenten felt a subject change would get the ball rolling.

"I take it that you passed the graduation exam?" They were both grinning when he nodded, "I knew you would! There are few shinobi who I've seen handle senbon as well as you did, and in such a short time for that matter."

"Again, I must thank you for the recommendation," Haku eyed a purplish bruise near her shoulder while adding, "Though I don't think I'll ever compare to you in terms of Shinjutsu, Tenten."

"Uh...why don't you tell me about your team?" She soldiered on, miffed that she was having slight difficulty focusing, "Have you gotten any missions yet?"

"No missions just yet, since it was just today we've been validated," He briefly wondered where his companions were at that precise moment, "My teammates are Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara, my life-long friends."

"Lucky..." She congratulated him, resting her chin on her hands and leaned on the table's edge.

"Our mentor is one of the Legendary Three-"

Tenten jumped up without warning and slammed her hands down on the table, "You're being trained by Tsunade-sama?" She almost screamed it.

All universal irony must have made it so the boy she handed a fistful of senbon a short time ago would be trained by her idol!

He smiled, and gently corrected her, "No, Jiraiya, the Toad Hermit, actually."

She relaxed and settled back into her seat, ignoring the strange looks directed at them, "Oh, well, that's still impressive! What's he like?"

A pause.

"Um," Haku decided to be truthful, "Frighteningly perverted, but undoubtedly powerful." Tenten raised an eyebrow in concern, "He also has a fondness for making complete fools out of my friends and me."

The kunoichi sighed, "I'd trade Gai-sensei for him any day..."

The waitress returned with their beverages and set them down before hurrying off to another table, still beet-red after laying eyes on Haku.

Haku took a small sip of tea, "I know we both are on separate teams, but I was hoping that if an opportunity presents itself we could spend more time together."

Somewhere in the back of her head, she heard alarm bells going off, "For...for training?"

"In our free time, only if you'd like," He answered and her stomach constricted nervously, "But it also would be a good idea to train more with senbon, I think. You really are talented."

Tenten nodded slowly, and lifted her cup, gulping rather than sipping, 'Oh no...I was hoping he just wanted to talk about senbon, or training or...but he's...he's actually coming onto me...like he likes me or something?'

Clearly he wasn't aware of how inadequate she was feeling at the moment. She put on another smile and tried to clear her head, 'Maybe I'm overreacting. He's constantly being chased by girls so he'd probably only be interested in friends.'

"Tenten, are you alright?"

The kunoichi looked up, "Hm? Oh yeah, I'm fine!"

Haku didn't look fully convinced, but thankfully the waitress came to her rescue, asking him if he'd like anything else.

'Friends?' She scoffed inwardly, 'What friends drink tea together?'

The waitress ended her distraction and Haku returned his attention to Tenten, "I hope you like dango-"

"I do." She was stymied, 'How does he know this stuff?'

Tenten didn't want to come across as rude, but she was not quite ready for Haku and the romantic-vibe he was giving off. Training was familiar and something she enjoyed, and she was nearly ashamed that she wasn't handling the situation better.

'Is this a date? I guess it is...it isn't what I had envisioned.' She paused, 'Well, what I envisioned had more...a lot more weapons involved, so maybe I really am socially lacking in this department.'

He smiled at her patiently; respecting her while he noted that she was busy with her own thoughts.

'I don't think I've ever met a person so attractive that it's staggering to be around them.' Tenten smiled to herself, 'Maybe it's because I'm spending too much time with Lee.'

Haku was inspecting the tea leaves at the bottom of his empty cup with curiosity not dissimilar from a kitten's.

He really is patient. Fancy that.

'I do like Haku, just in the 'friendly' sort of way...involving pointy objects,' Tenten took another long moment to see if that had made any sense, 'Maybe now is a good time to bring this up...'

"Haku?"

He gave her a knowing look.

"Is this a date?"

Haku had only seen Gaara deadpan so elegantly.

"I believe so." He answered with as much aplomb as he could muster.

She couldn't help the smile that peaked onto her lips, 'That's a first: taking a badly-beaten, sweat-rag of a girl on a date, how very entertaining. Haku you are a rarity...'

The dango arrived and they both helped themselves as Tenten went on, "Sorry that I spaced out before, I'm back with you now. And thank you."

"For what?"

"For your semi-unnatural patience and the tea and snacks," She nearly patted herself on the back for such an honest reply, "Even though this has been slightly-"

"Awkward?"

She nodded, savoring the sweet bean paste, "Yes, the awkwardness was my fault. I'm not used to this sort of thing, but hey, I'm really enjoying myself so it's balancing out."

"You seemed to be thinking very hard after I mentioned us spending more time with each other," He added carefully. Curse him and his powers of observation!

"Um, yeah, about that..." Tenten took one last sip of tea, "I do want to spend time with you, believe me I do. I just want that time to be spent...training, if that's alright."

Haku smiled, admiring her work ethic, "It is alright, in fact, probably time better spent than drinking tea."

'Among other things...' She thought while trying to ignore how his storm-colored eyes caught the light very nicely.

Tenten gave him a confused look after he stood up.

"I know you were just training with Neji-san, but perhaps we could improve our shinjutsu now, if you have the energy?" Haku suggested, "This place is a bit stuffy."

She took the last skewer of dango and also stood, "Energy? You fed me. There's little to debate."

Haku smiled to himself as he left the tab money on the table and then followed her outside, noting how he also preferred training over the dim lighting of the tea house.

"We'll go back to my team's training area," Tenten finished the last of the dango, "I have targets set up there and if you're really good you can start throwing senbon at Neji for practice."

Haku gave her a quizzical look, "On the off chance that I hit him-?"

"You most likely won't be able to. His Kaiten is impenetrable," She then smirked, "Though, who knows? You're also a genius; you might figure something out..."