AN: After a long hiatus involving a heated battle between my adamant self and several life-sapping AP classes, I'm thoroughly glad to say that I'm back. And with a brand new Nejiten adventure saga! I am now a senior in high school. I have time to write!

Needless to say, I will be updating my previous stories post-haste, but I'm pretty excited about this one, so I'm not sure what'll come to me first.

This is a semi-AU, with a plot line vaguely based on Full Metal Panic!, though there's a bit of a gender reversal in terms of the main characters. Rest assured that, aside from the basic concept, the story is very different from FMP!. Tenten is epic. Ahh. So are Sasuke and Shikamaru. They are epic Shinobi Agents from Konoha, an unaffiliated secret agent organization based in Japan that specializes in stopping crime (kind of like Mithril). Neji is a badboy civilian who apparently needs protection (Kaname?).

And so the plot unfolds. Enjoy!

Wahaha,

WLH.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto characters, nor FMP! plot concepts.

Steam. Splash. Hot skin on tiles.

Sasuke was aware of all these things as he stepped into the bath area that was connected to the two-bed, two-desk room, sliding the partition shut behind him. The latch connected with a barely audible click—the sound of water dripping slowly into the bath was louder.

Nonetheless, a voice came from within the muggy depths, clear and piercing like a blade. "Back already? That went faster than I expected."

He paused on the slippery floor, feeling beads of sweat gather at the base of his neck. She was as perceptive as ever.

"I finished up the business quickly so I could get back as soon as possible," he answered lightly as he continued toward the darkening silhouette of the tub, where the slender figure of a young girl reclined. "You know how Gai gets when I don't come in time for training."

Rippling water. She sat up as he drew near, mahogany hair falling over her swollen breasts and pooling in the water around her. It glistened with a newly-washed sheen.

The girl had no reason to question why her childhood friend and unit-mate stood over her as she sat naked in the scalding water, nor did she have reason to feel embarrassed as his eyes freely roamed her body, betraying no emotion. When her chocolate ones met his deep onyx in the swirling steam, she knew why he had come and promptly stood.

"Did she call for us just now?" she asked quietly, accepting the thin towel he pressed against her dripping front.

He nodded. "Right when I got back."

As she wrapped herself in the soft material and squeezed excess water from her tresses, a small frown marked her thin lips. "Hm. And I didn't even get to use conditioner. Heaven knows how wild my hair gets without it."

"Not that you do much with it anyways," was his well-worn response, and as soon as the water had been let out of the tub, the two left the room. The girl paused only to sweep up her clothing.

She changed deftly even as they walked down the hall at a brisk pace. The process was altogether practiced and fluid, as if it had been undergone a number of times. "Where's Shikamaru?" She snapped the fastener on her shirt closed.

Sasuke smirked down at her from where he stood at 6' 1". "Either smartly dressed and already before Tsunade-sama or snoring away on the roof, a book on his face."

She in turn gave him a challenging smile from her height of 5' 4", and with lithe fingers bound her hair into two tight buns. "500 yen he's on the roof."

Incidentally, she was right, and on their way to Executive Hokage Tsunade's office after collecting a sleepy Shikamaru, she bought three cans of ice coffee from the nearby vending machine using her newly acquired 500 yen.

"Here you guys go," she chirped, handing the two remaining cans to her unit-mates as she opened her own with one hand. "My treat."

"Charming, Tenten," Sasuke grumbled as he caught the can Shikamaru tossed at him.

Tenten, eyes bright, flashed him a candid wink before turning to knock on the large wooden door before them.

"Yes?" A familiar voice, full of strength and experience-wrought wisdom, resounded even through the heavy door.

"Shinobi Agent Tenten, Shinobi Agent Uchiha Sasuke, and Unit Leader Nara Shikamaru reporting for duty," she replied smartly.

If Shikamaru felt any annoyance that she had announced their arrival instead of deferring to him, the Unit Leader, to do so, he didn't show it. It was customary that she did most of the talking—their unit tended not to adhere to the traditions of most Konoha Shinobi Agent units; in fact, it did anything but.

Despite this blatant break of protocol, Tsunade welcomed the three into her office with a wide grin. "Did you guys see the new vending machine I had installed just down the hall?"

After receiving the can of ice coffee Tenten insisted on buying for her from the new vending machine with her remaining yen, Tsunade settled back into her plush armchair and let out a small belch of satisfaction. "Ice coffee always hits the spot," she mentioned happily before swiftly cracking her knuckles and getting straight down to business.

"I did not call you guys in for your typical reconnaissance, assassination, or sabotage mission," she started, her voice suddenly laced with seriousness. She steepled her painted fingertips. "Nevertheless, I felt that this mission required the man-power, which is why I want all three of you."

"If it's not the usual, then what, may I ask, is it?" Tenten inquired politely, intrigue and excitement evident in her wide eyes.

Tsunade suppressed a chuckle at her eagerness. "We received a request for personal defense." She paused to let the words sink in for a moment and then passed the bored-looking Shikamaru a clipboard crammed to bursting with papers, newspaper clippings, and photographs.

"P-personal defense?" the young girl's mouth dropped open. "You don't mean-"

"Bodyguarding, simply put," Sasuke put in grimly. "How many years has it been since we've had one of these?"

"Four. Last time was when we were 13." Shikamaru was the only unconcerned unit-member. "What paranoid, egotistical tycoon might we have the honor of guarding this time?" He yawned to punctuate the sarcastic question.

"Who cares? They're the ones we always end up killing to complete the mission, anyway," Tenten remarked dryly.

"Only because paranoid tycoons usually rise to their positions through underhanded means," Sasuke reminded, taking the clipboard from Shikamaru before the lazy leader could let the many files spill onto the tasteful plush rug that covered the floor of the Executive Hokage's office. "I expect this time is different."

Hokage Tsunade smiled slightly. "Correct. This time's client isn't quite a paranoid tycoon yet, and though he may be egotistical, not to mention an infamous playboy, he hasn't developed enough criminal tendencies to use any underhanded tactics."

"Yet," she added, after some thought.

"Ugh, I don't like the sound of this already," Tenten bemoaned rather unprofessionally as Sasuke silently passed her the clipboard. Resigning herself to her fated duty as a Shinobi Agent with a sigh, she cast her weary eyes upon the files.

The very first clipping, a very scratched photograph, surprised her. She could tell it was several years, perhaps a decade, old, as its soft colors faded into a dull sepia at the edges. Three figures, one considerably taller than the other two, stood before a beautiful Japanese garden scene clad in loose-fitting kimonos. The tallest figure was a grim-faced man with inky black hair down to the middle of his back. His eyes were a striking lavender, lacking pupils, and his jaw was set as if chiseled from stone. He carried a small child, presumably a female, in his arms. The young girl standing in the middle with the same eyes must have been his other daughter. She seemed to stare down at the pebbled ground instead of directly at the camera, and clasped the right sleeve of the slightly older looking boy (or was it a girl?) beside her.

Tenten studied the blurry image of the final figure closely, unable to explain the sudden tug she felt at her heart as she gazed upon his lonely countenance. He must have been about six or seven years old. His was a pitiful face that belied a great inner conviction—fighting the emptiness in his eyes, his lips bravely committed themselves to a small smile up at the camera; it was clear his inner emotions were in turmoil. There was something about the resolute hope he carried in his subtle expression that drew her in. And his eyes, she noted almost subconsciously, were as pure white and cold as snow.

She finally pulled back the photograph to reveal the other files underneath and promptly felt her gag-reflexes kick in as she took in the second paper: a school information sheet, complete with a large bust-shot of who she assumed must be the young boy from the first photograph. Only different. Very, very different.

How could two pictures of the same person be so outrageously different? She asked herself almost angrily.

Indeed, the person in the school identification picture, now a sturdily-built and admittedly handsome young man, was worlds away from the resolute boy she had been so initially drawn to. He now leered at her with a sickeningly self-gratifying gaze of narcissism, lips twisted in a smirk that somehow reminded her of the dark-eyed Sasuke, though her unit-mate lacked the boy's overwhelming ego. All traces of the lost boy who had been striving so desperately to find his place were gone. The only constants she could place were his milk-white eyes, still containing the same snow-like purity that now belied his evidently corrupt nature.

"Egotistical playboy fits him to the T," she scoffed, tossing aside the clipboard.

Always quick in terms of reflexes, Sasuke caught the projectile with a soft grunt and a frown. "Regardless, this is our mission and it must be fulfilled to the best of our abilities."

"That is for certain," Tsunade agreed solemnly. "You three must monitor and protect Hyuuga Neji from any threat that comes his way. Our client is his father, Hyuuga Hiashi, whom, as you may know, is—"

"Chairman of the Hyuuga Software Incorporation," Shikamaru interrupted. "We really can't afford to fail—practically 100% of the software we use for all of our surveillance and intelligence is from the Hyuuga Incorporation, clear across the board."

Rather than scold his insolence, the Hokage was pleased at his perceptiveness. "You always pay such thorough attention," she commended him.

"So… what exactly are we protecting… him from?" The previously sullen Tenten spoke up, aware of the duty that loomed over her.

"Hyuuga-san refused to say." Tsunade's eyes narrowed sharply. "But we have sources that point to the Black Market. Or its dealers, in any case."

The "three-pronged-weapon," as they were often called among Konoha agents, raised their eyebrows almost simultaneously in surprise at the Hokage's insinuations.

"What kind of Black Market dealer would want a teenage boy?" Sasuke asked. "And what from him?"

Tenten, though obviously puzzled, managed to interject sardonically, "And who would even willingly come into direct contact by kidnapping someone like him? I wouldn't, not for all of his super-expensive Hyuuga Software Incorporation organs—" she stopped abruptly.

"Organs…" she breathed in epiphany. Immediately, she made a wild grab for the clipboard Sasuke held and pointed at the first picture of the young Neji and his family. "Tsunade-sama, could it be…?"

A troubled look creeping onto her face, Tsunade nodded confirmation. "We suspect they're after his eyes."

"I hate my life."

"No, you don't."

A cross Tenten stared down an unperturbed Shikamaru as he stood behind a camera, fiddling with a few of its settings. "Oh, but I do."

The normally lazy unit leader let out a small noise of disbelief. "I seriously doubt that." Click.

Her mouth dropped open. "Hey! I wasn't ready yet!"

"I can definitely tell that much by the looks of this picture," Shikamaru sniggered, turning the LCD display for Sasuke to view the embarrassing moment he had just captured.

Her other teammate also let out a golden smirk from under his coal-colored bangs. "Priceless."

The two could hardly blink before a cold wind zipped past them and something metal embedded itself into the wall behind them.

Tenten pouted, severely irked, twirling several kunai and shuriken adroitly on her right index finger in the same way a student would nonchalantly spin his pencil during a class of idle note-taking. "Retake, or there's more where that came from."

"Alright, alright," Shikamaru consented, though completely unafraid of her meaningless threats. "Gotta make sure your transfer student information sheet has a nice picture to go along with it."

"Don't push me," she grumbled.

"Smile, Tenten," Sasuke advised, and she complied reluctantly, flashing a set of pearly teeth sweetly at the camera.

She couldn't help but grimace inwardly. Her hair felt weird, down from its customary dual-buns in favor of two loose braids that hung girlishly over her thin shoulders. The blazer that encased her upper body was too tight, too stiffed, too ironed. And her skirt. No words for that abomination.

"Done," her unit leader decided, passing over the camera for her inspection and approval.

There she sat, picturesque in her neatly pressed private high school uniform, eyes wide and dewy above a killer smile that worked its way from her coral colored lips to her gently arching eyebrows. The sun from a nearby window caught the shine in her wispy brown braids. It was the epitome of sweet innocence, a moment in the quiet day of a normal, pretty school girl with a stress-free and money-filled life. It was beautiful. But it was not her.

Sasuke whistled as he glanced over her shoulder in an unusual display of levity. "You're pretty damn photogenic, Tenten."

She closed her eyes, disgruntled. "I hate my life."

Her thoughts roamed indignantly to the previous mission briefing they'd just had with the Executive Hokage. She could still hear her own voice, clouded with disbelief, at the arduous task she and she alone would be forced to undertake.

"I'm going to what?"

Tsunade had glared at her angry outburst—letting personal opinions interfere with a mission was not only a break of professional protocol, but could also seriously endanger the outcome. "You WILL transfer to Hyuuga Neji's school and watch over him from your vantage point as a classmate. Sasuke and Shikamaru will back you up with the necessary equipment." Seeing Tenten's mouth open once more in protest, she closed her eyes firmly. "And that is final!"

Tenten sighed. She had shown an unnaturally immature side of herself she usually never dared display in the professional setting. And though she greatly regretted her inability to control her disdain for the new mission, just the thought of spending time daily in the Hyuuga's presence sent shivers of disgust down her spine.

"One more thing," Tsunade continued, adding injury to insult, "is that Hyuuga Neji must not know what you three are doing. Our client has requested this, most likely to prevent Neji from panicking or even realizing the dangerous situation he's in."

Tenten gritted her teeth.

"Isn't it foolish that he not know the danger he's in?" Sasuke asked.

Tsunade fixed him with a straight stare. "It matters not what we think. Our client asked for it to be that way."

Sasuke was silent for a moment before he answered obediently. "Understood."

Fuming inwardly, Tenten managed to bow without betraying her emotions. As the three turned to leave, Tsunade called out, "Tenten."

She paused, biting her lip. "Yes, Hokage-sama?"

The older woman's voice was gentle, as were her honey brown eyes as they regarded the young agent who stared distraughtly at the ground. "I asked for you because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are capable." Her voice hardened to a professional level once more. "Dismissed."

The Executive Hokage's approval and inherent trust in her abilities had been reassuring, but somehow Tenten still felt anguished. It was so unknown to her, this narcissistic smile, the prospect of attending an actual school. And though Tenten usually thrived and found thrill in the unknown, this time she was filled with an untraceable foreboding.

"I can't even explain the situation to him if I get caught essentially stalking him," she murmured. "What a creep I'll seem like.."

"You'll be alright," Shikamaru reassured with a sigh, aware that he and Sasuke had gotten off easily compared to her. "You're so good at recon that you never get caught anyways."

Tenten buried her head deep within the crook of her right elbow and managed to calm herself, to get her mind thinking rationally at a level above her heaving heart. "I know, but this school setting closes a lot of doors in terms of recon opportunities. It's best to be prepared for anything."

"We'll leave you to think, then," Sasuke put in knowingly. He exited the room, leaving Tenten curled up in the middle of her bed.

Shikamaru unscrewed the digital camera from its stand and slid it into his pocket to complete Tenten's fake transfer files. Before leaving the room however, he paused before her and placed a slip of thick paper onto her right cheek, which faced him. Permitting himself a smile, he walked out of the room and gently slid the door shut.

After he had left, Tenten reached a small hand up to her cheek and brought the curling, old photograph before her tired eyes. There stood Hyuuga Neji, young face filled with stirring hope as he gazed calmly at the camera, at her. Resolute. White as snow. A sigh of wonder escaped her lips as she stared, and she threw her arm out so that it dangled off the edge of her bed.

As perceptive as she knew herself to be, she knew Shikamaru was all the more observant, all the more detail-oriented, and all the more aware.

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