A/N: Okay, I've been using this website for years, and I still don't understand why it keeps making all my breaks disappear. I keep having to use letters and that thin grey line that does the separation keeps vanishing on me. So I'll have to use letters for there to be a clear distinction – if anyone knows how to get that clear grey line, please review or PM me with the how-to. Thank you!

Edit: TenTen ends up pregnant in a different fic I'm writing. I confused the two momentarily. For the purpose of "A Dragon's Blood" Ten Ten is definitely not pregnant. I'm sorry that I made this mistake!

xXx

Ino awoke to a stack of paperwork.

Ah fuck, I fell asleep in the damn library again!

She rolled her eyes at the sight of the mess and tried to get up before realizing she was in a shitload of pain.

Ah motherfucker!

She rolled her neck around to get the crick out of her neck and proceeded to stand up, dusting her knees and skirt off. The door handle clicked behind her and Ino slowly turned her head to see who it was.

"Sakura-pig! You left me here all alone in this stupid position to sleep! If you tell me you went home at some point, I'll actually consider killing you."

Sakura scoffed, "Actually? Consider? So you're saying all your previous death threats were empty taunts?" The girl sniffed her coffee comically before handing Ino her preferred coffee mixture: 80% black, 20% low fat milk, and three sugars with a splash of chocolate for taste.

"Thanks." She breathed out into the hot Styrofoam lip feeling the heat waft up through the small mouth piece, but not before shooting Sakura a glare.

"Also, no I didn't go home and sleep, I slept in that pile of shit over there," Sakura nodded to her head at a stack of crumpled papers, obviously distorted by a sleeping body, "I just got up before you did and thought to grab us coffee."

Ino looked over in the direction, before turning her whole body to face the mess, "It is never ending. Honestly. It's already been what, two weeks since we started, and it seems like the mess is getting bigger, not smaller."

Sakura choked a bit on her coffee, before giggling, "And we didn't even take a break when that whole TenTen thing went viral."

Ino sighed and slumped back against the far wall closest to the window, watching the sun's early rays light up the stuffy library. The girls drank their coffee in peace, Sakura reading some medical text almost out of complete boredom, flipping through the pages as if only every random page, something of interest would catch her attention. The cool wall let Ino's mind wander as her eyes closed against the pleasing feeling.

"I do wonder what her reaction will be like when she finds out," The blonde whispered to no one in particular.

"She won't – not until those Tsunade will appoint to research the case deem it appropriate to reveal. If there really is no use in bringing this info to light, why ruin the girl's life, turn it upside down. For all we know, the girl may have been killed soon after being kidnapped, has died due to other reasons in the meantime, or is simply nowhere to be found." Sakura finally looked up, throwing the large volume beside herself, ignoring the noise it made as it dropped.

Ino rolled her head to look at the pinkette, made to respond but only sighed.

"Pig, listen, all we can do now is pretend we never discovered that information. If the news are to be revealed, then we'll deal with it then. Right now, we don't even know if there is any trace. Plus, we weren't assigned the mission to find out why the girl was kidnapped to begin with. What if they weren't looking for Ten Ten, but rather did want Tatsu. What if they didn't make the mistake – it would explain why no one ever came back for her. Take a deep breath. It'll be fine."

"I know, but I can't imagine what she'll do when she finds out WE knew. All along. We KNEW the whole time. We were the ones that instigated it. We literally set it off in motion, and we didn't TELL her. You know I live with the girl, right? I feel like I signed myself up to die."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at this, and Ino threw a book at her the medic easily deflected. A smile broke out over Ino's face. Ironic, them being ninja and all, having signed away their rights to a safe life at the age of six basically – cementing it with becoming genin officially at the age of 12, and having recently fought a war.

"You KNOW what I mean by that, Pig!" Ino giggled.

"No, I don't. What DO you mean by that?" Sakura was enjoying playing with her.

"Just that, Ten Ten is a weapons mistress. I don't want to stay on alert in my own bed. Also, I wouldn't put it past her to slit my throat in my sleep."

Sakura doubled over hearing this, "I'm sorry," she wiped away imaginary tears of laughter, "I just imagine a really pissed off Ten Ten using like fifty different weapons to kill you while you're dreaming of Sai."

Ino looked comically offended by this statement, "SAI?"

"Oh come off it, everyone knows you two are…," Sakura wiggled her eyebrows dangerously.

"For your information, no we are not. I have the hots forsomeoneelse." Ino spoke the last bit into her cup of coffee.

Intrigue befell Sakura's face, "Excuse me."

"Ilikesomeoneelse."

"You'll have to speak up louder, kiddo, I can't hear you." Sakura grinned evily.

"I LIKE SOMEONE ELSE OKAY!?"

Sakura cried, kicking her feet out as she clutched her stomach, throwing her head back into the bookcase. Forgetting where she was momentarily, she smashed her head into the hardwood of the shelf and winced, and the whole scene had Ino bending forward in pain from laughter.

"FUCKING PRICELESS!"

Sakura shot her best friend a glare as she gathered chakra in her hand and healed the back of her own head.

"Bitch…" she muttered which sent Ino into another fit of giggles, "So will you tell me who you like?"

Ino stopped laughing, "No."

"CHILD, I AM YOUR BEST FRIEND!"

"I AM NOT A CHILD!"

"WELL WHAT KIND OF ADULT DOESN'T ADMIT THEY HAVE FEELINGS FOR SOMEONE BUT RATHER CHILDISHLY PRETENDS THEY DON'T?"

"THE KIND OF ADULT THAT KNOWS THAT THE FIRST THING YOU WOULD DO IS GO RUNNING TO THAT PERSON GOING, 'OH INO LIKES YOU!'" Ino countered. Two could play this game.

"RIGHT, BECAUSE I HAVE THIS MASSIVE HABIT OF DOING THAT. A WHOLE RAPSHEET OF SNITCHING!"

"YOU'RE JUST GOOD AT HIDING IT WAS YOU WHO SNITCHED!"

The girls fell back into laughter and let the humor wash over them as the sun came up higher.

"So you seriously won't tell me," Sakura tried one last time before crushing her to-go cup and throwing it leisurely across the room into the bin.

"Not a chance in hell," Ino smirked following Sakura's example, before getting up and dusting her ass off again.

"Breakfast?" The blonde looked up from dusting herself, blue eyes hungry pits of dark blue.

"Best idea you've had all morning." Sakura got up and made her way to the door, holding it open.

"I haven't had a single idea all morning, what the fuck you on about," Ino smiled, amused at her friend's antics.

Sakura just smiled, "What I'm on about is you…" but the voice trailed off, followed by a slightly more distant protest as the door locked shut as the two girls walked out, heading to their usual breakfast spot.

-x-

Raido Namiashi and Yugao Uzuki stood in front of the Hokage's desk.

Tsunade rested her chin on her interlaced fingers, hands propped up on her elbows, seemingly in deep strategic thought, before she dropped her head and sighed, "Ah I need a good swig of sake," she moaned.

Yugao winced. Raido looked absolutely petrified.

"Hokage-sama… what exactly do you want us to do…" Raido started, trying to brave through the meeting.

"We've been here for thirty minutes," Yugao added, pulling her long purple hair over her shoulder. Konoha's heat was getting to her. Briefly, she wondered why she didn't just cut her hair. Briefly.

"And you've yet to speak to us." Raido completed that sentence and then gulped as Tsunade's eyes transfixed themselves on them, the amber eyes piercing.

She opened her mouth as if to speak, and then leaned back in her swivel chair, turning towards the huge windows behind her desk in a single fluid motion. She stood up from the desk and walked towards the windows, her hands clasped behind her back.

"You know Ten Ten?" Posed as a question, but not really vocalized as one, Tsunade still waited for the affirmation from the two.

"Um, yes. We've come across her a few times since she made genin." Yugao commented.

"What do you know of her history?" Tsunade looked over her shoulder at them, then returned to face Konoha.

Raido cast his eyes towards the hardwood floor, trying to recall, but came up blank, "Um, nothing, Hokage-sama."

Yugao bit her lip, "There was something a very long time ago that I overheard the older ANBU members talking about. I had just made chunnin, I think. I was coming back from a training session and was granted permission to use the ANBU showers and changing room. One of the older female officers commented in passing how a horrible murder had occurred. The father was from some clan, but the mother was not affiliated with the ranks or a specific kekkai-genkai. They had twins. One was kidnapped, the other was in the hospital, and on the night of the kidnapping, both parents were brutally murdered. It wasn't a high profile case. I think I recall them saying their names were Tatsu and Ten Ten."

"You are correct." Tsunade turned on her heel and walked back to her desk, resting her palms on top of it to support her weight, which was 90% boob. Through the loops of dusty blonde hair that fell on her face, the woman looked at them somberly.

"Does anyone know TenTen's last name?"

Yugao and Raido shook their heads.

"Believe it or not, there is no last name on file. No clan affiliation – no familial affiliation at all. However, it was interesting that there was a kekkai genkai involved – from the father's side anyway. It was dragon specific – a creature that died out eons ago, and the kekkai genkai was rendered useless, though apparently it does transfer its usage over to other types of lizards. Little is known of that kekkai genkai, but it is believed it simply gives the user an advantage to work with that specific animal type – similar to the Inuzuka clan. Without training, it's rendered useless. Without the animal familiar actually present – it's rendered useless."

Yugao and Raido were now openly confused.

"Okay, so why are we here."

"Well, what reason did anyone have for kidnapping the child of a man whose kekkai genkai was practically useless? Was killing the parents necessary because they got in the way, or was it to ensure that no one else from that clan was left alive? Why kill an already dying clan that no one even knew existed?"

Tsunade's questions left them speechless. All valid questions that no one had any answers to. Why was that murder an occurrence to begin with?

"I'd like the two of you to go out and solve the mystery. After 17 years, there is a high chance you'll find nothing at all. But I think we owe it to them to finally solve the mystery surrounding their murder. The reason you two were chosen is because you have the least amount of interaction with Ten Ten and her friend group. She can, under no circumstance, be aware this investigation is taking place." With that, Tsunade turned to face the window once again.

"Hokage-sama, where do we even begin?" Raido asked, exasperated, confused, and feeling a little less than hopeful.

However, it wasn't Tsunade that responded, it was Yugao, "Well, where you always begin. The scene of the crime." She smiled kindly at Shizune who handed them both copies of mission stats, and bowed respectfully.

Tsunade just waved her hand over her shoulder, "Exactly. You are both dismissed."

-x-

Outside, Raido was the first to open the manila folder.

"This is gruesome as all living hell, what the fuck?"

Yugao cast an unsure glance in his direction, "I find it funny when you say that after literally everything we've been through in the span of a year and a half."

"War is different, Yugao-chan. Attacks and mission deaths are different. Random murder however is – purely of your own volition. During war, you're under orders. When you attack, you're under orders. When you die or kill on a mission – it's survival and/or orders." He snapped the folder shut, "This… this is just someone killing a family, taking their daughter, and leaving without a trace into the night."

Yugao opened her mouth to speak but Raido cut her off, "And before you bring up the kidnapping and the Hyuuga clan – the Hyuuga clan are one of the most powerful clans … ever. There's a clear reason behind that kidnapping – you always have something to go off of. Yugao, admit it – there's no reason to kill a family whose kekkai genkai wasn't even a threat to anyone other than a summer lizard."

Yugao smiled at the last comment lightly, but she had to concede. Something about senseless murder did have a different ring to it, a different feel.

"So where are we going?" she asked as they finally stepped outside of the Hokage building.

"The village where Ten Ten was born is apparently only 30 minutes away from the main gates through the south forest. According to the report on the village, it's a farming village with a population of a 1000 people. No clans, and only a few of them have decided to join Konoha's ninja ranks within the last two decades."

"Well, then that is where we go." Yugao took the lead and vanished from behind Raido.

Fuck.

-x-

Ten Ten walked back into the little apartment above the flower shop that she shared with Ino. The war ended a little less than four months ago, and a lot of things were still in process. Ino's mom, however, couldn't deal with living in the same apartment where she raised a family, so she moved out. They had heard that when the initial report came back that headquarters were bombed by a bijuu bomb, and that everyone was dead that it was around 8:30 pm, and she had just finished making dinner. The woman had fallen to her knees, crying out bloody murder as sobs racked her body. Her daughter was still out there.

In the following month, all of the burials had taken place. In the following month, no one so much as smiled. It was after the funeral that Ino's mom packed her stuff and found a nice apartment on the other end of Konoha to live in. The flower shop and all the memories within would've permanently made her go insane.

Ino, after her mom left, redecorated the home to have a little reminder of her previous life around. Certain things she kept in memory of her dad, like his favorite spice that no one else liked in the cupboard, and that one photo of the family firmly taped to the fridge door, and the odd little sticky notes he would leave around the house with training reminders. None of those things were touched – but everything else was pretty much redecorated to suit Ino's personal style. Lilac walls.

That was one thing that Ten Ten would scrunch her nose at every time she walked in. The fucking apartment looked like a bunch of lilacs had thrown up, quite literally, into the apartment: a floral arrangement gone horribly wrong. She said that once and Ino was close to actually brutally murdering her. Ten Ten moved in because she couldn't sleep. Images of Neji's death kept flooding back and she would wake up, well really they both would, in the middle of the night screaming out. Ten Ten for Neji, Ino for her father.

The duo were always friends, now they were just really close friends and roommates. Ten Ten found that she found comfort and peace and well, home in the small apartment she and Ino shared about the Yamanaka flower shop.

Ten Ten threw her bag onto the dark blue couch and threw herself back first onto it, groaning as the memory foam of the seat sucked her in gently. It had been another rough day at the tactics division.

Rubbing her eyes she looked around the dark apartment. Ino was still off probably sorting out the Hokage library with Sakura. Deciding to make dinner for her roommate, she grumbled and like a sloth made her way to the kitchen. From the corner of her eye, in the dark corner of the kitchen, Ten Ten saw a manila folder that said "Top Secret" on it. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but then ignored it. If it was Ino's folder, it could possibly be a new mission she was assigned to. Respecting boundaries and laws of her village, and honestly not wanting to worry about the safety of her best friend and roommate, Ten Ten's attention returned to the pile of vegetables Ino had organized by color and nutrition next to the sink.

Rolling her eyes at the blonde's ridiculous attention to detail, she grabbed a cucumber and began cutting.

A/N: I live on reviews! 3 Thank you for reading!