The Beast, the Woman, and Her Flowers

A/N: Here we go! Genma is hard to write, but it's still fun so...

Happy (belated) Mother's Day! Let's all hope Mama Shikai manages to handle Haru's antics.

"He is no brute, he is a man.

Konoha's Green Beast has met his match in a woman with flowers in her hair.

This is how it all happens.

She rushes forward, blades sheathed and fingers stiff. An open palm attack, quite like those of the Hyuuga clan, moving to disarm him and have him face-down on the ground. She asks him what he wants, who his target is, what he's doing here. He answers partially. It's all a misunderstanding, he isn't here for her.

Or perhaps it happens like this.

She charges forward, a single blade unsheathed and aimed for his chest. A singular point of attack meant to eliminate him. He counters, sweeps her off her feet and onto the ground. Perhaps it goes on for quite a while, but it ends with her down on the ground and him explaining that she's in the wrong. He's here for her friend.

Or maybe even something like this.

She steps forward to gauge his reaction and continues until she's well within his reach. She asks him something coy, whispers something seductive, something sinister. Then she kisses him and cuts through his stomach without even asking for his name or his purpose. A true femme fatale.

Shiranui Genma is a shinobi. He's a good shinobi. He's an exceptionally good shinobi. He's a terribly good shinobi who ought to have thought this through thrice over before actually doing it. Really, his reputation in on the line.

Probably not right now, but–

"So, what brings you here?"

Well.

None of those happen. And in his defense, the third course is highly unlikely. He's just probably read Make-Out Paradise a few times too many. And she doesn't look too much like those femme fatales either.

Still, her lack of a reaction suggests that she's either already aware of him or desensitized to this kind of thing. Well, either doesn't bode well for him, so he replies as articulate as he can.

"Wrong room."

Yes. As articulate as he can.

"I see."

It's quiet. It's awkward. She doesn't rush forward, doesn't scream, doesn't run away, she just... stands there. And she even looks... bored. There are about–no, at least, three other ways he could have gone about this little predicament.

Raidou and Aoba both tried talking him out of it. She might just be some passerby. Konoha gets a lot of them these days. He doesn't have a chance. She might be a foreign shinobi come to participate in the Chuunin Exams, though it seems highly unlikely. She's too... delicate-looking, too beautiful to actually be a shinobi. But that might be the worst part, that might be her edge in this competition. Worse, she might even be an enemy sent to infiltrate Konoha while the Chuunin Exams are going on.

"Well, I'll just have to see for myself, won't I?"

In hindsight, he shouldn't have done this at all. Or, he should have planned this a lot more carefully. Sure, he had followed them out of the bar and even had the will to stop himself from peeking in the hot springs –he was only kind of a pervert, that title is reserved for Kakashi-but they showed little to no attention to his presence.

In all honesty, he expected her to have done something by now.

"Your friend, she dropped this." He raises the pin toward her.

Yeah. Smooth. Real smooth.

She doesn't take it. Instead, she says, "Identify yourself."

Now, Genma knows there are three possible reasons why she would ask such a thing. One, she's genuinely curious. Two, she's an enemy and thinks he's a threat. Three, she's going to tell her pretty friend.

"Shiranui Genma. A tokubetsu jounin of Konohagakure at your service."

He adds the last three words and a charming smile to earn some bonus points.

"A shinobi..."

Which she might not be willing to give, seeing as she lowered her gaze and muttered under her breath. He can't read her, not as fast as he usually could because she's giving him all vague signs. Is she going to attack? Is she going to take it? Is she going to reply? Her stance is too neutral, too tired, too... unreadable.

"Yeah." He breathes out. "I mean neither of you any harm, just wanted to return this."

"Of course." She replies right after, but doesn't step aside to let him through or reach out to take the hairpin from him.

Is she going to stall for as long as she can?

"Look. I just wanted to do a good deed."

"Give it to me."

Well, there goes his chances of giving it to the pretty woman himself.

But he gives it to her still and she steps aside. The best he can hope for is that she gives his name to her pretty friend.

"Well, I'll just be on my way, miss."

He doesn't think he should ask her name.

It's not every day that Shikai finds a stranger in her room acting all sly and mysterious, but when it does happen, it's usually a lovelorn man who comes to her in the hopes of getting to Haru. Get the friend to get the girl, as they say.

"Wrong room."

So, of course, he's surprised to see her.

"I see."

And, of course, she expected him to say such a thing.

"Your friend, she dropped this."

He hands over the hairpin with a careful stillness. It's as if he's waiting for her to do something, to attack him. The hairpin is in his hand. He could easily trick her and stab her with it, so she asks for his name.

"Shiranui Genma. A tokubetsu jounin of Konohagakure at your service."

He tries to win her over by being the least bit charming. But she's not charmed, not at all. The fact that a shinobi had found Haru's hairpin is dangerous. Perhaps he's already found out. Perhaps he's here to verify something. Perhaps he's here to question them. Shikai cannot allow that, she can't simply allow Haru and herself to be placed in such a position. They're not criminals on the run, they're just proxies for Lady Miyabi.

"I mean neither of you any harm, just wanted to return this."

Well, that reassured her. This Shiranui Genma must be someone who's just in love.

Pity him, though. Haru's single-minded when it comes to things she wants.

"Look. I just wanted to do a good deed."

Shikai looks at him and wonders for a moment if this is a sign of things to come. If there was one shinobi who had set his sights on Haru, there was bound to be another. Konohagakure is a big village, and the eve of the Chuunin Exams means more and more people would come, more and more people would see Haru, more and more people would–

"Give it to me."

She doesn't want to think of such exaggerated things. She takes the pin and steps aside.

"Well, I'll just be on my way, miss."

And he leaves. She doesn't follow him or threaten him. He doesn't seem like the type to pursue the unattainable, anyway. Perhaps he's just a good man seeking to deliver a lost item.

Haru doesn't hear about the entire ordeal until the next day. How Haru "heard" about it, Shikai doesn't know. If it were up to her, Haru wouldn't have heard anything at all.

"I heard there was a man in your room."

Oh, so quick to cause scandal so early in the morning.

"You're right." Shikai knows there's naught to be gained if she protested it. "And he was looking for you."

Haru sips her tea and averts her gaze. She knows it couldn't possibly be him. It was too quiet last night. And if it was him, Shikai would have told her sooner.

"If he was, he would have come to me and not you." Haru whispered with malicious intentions. "Or are you lying?" She smirked.

Shikai frowns. "Would I even dare?"

And her question is heavy. Haru knows about the tragedy that befell Shikai some years before, knows about a certain man-turned-master and a certain man-turned-god. Though she only knows the surface of it all–she has yet to know the names of those two –she knows Shikai wouldn't dare touch a man let alone think about touching a man.

"In any case, he was the one who found it."

Shikai places the hairpin between them and Haru picks it up immediately, looks at it with the most critical of eyes. She's trying to find something, something wrong or something lacking. The beads are all intact, the petals not misshapen, and the tiny vial still has the right amount of the toxin. There's nothing wrong. Nothing at all.

"Well, I hope you gave him my thanks." Haru places the pin in her hair.

Shikai wonders just how Haru could fix her way that way.

For the moment it's quiet. It's peaceful. Haru sips on her tea and Shikai stares at the morning view outside. People are on their way to wherever. It's idyllic. It's calm. The Chuunin Exams are just days away, but this early morning peace is something to marvel at. Shikai and Haru both appreciate moments like this. That is, until Shikai notices something unbearably green.

And she has to do a double take just to be sure.

Is that... His son?

She turns to Haru sharply, only to see that Haru's expression has fallen.

She tries to console her, "Haru..."

But the woman bolts upright, too fast for anyone to stop her, and rushes past the inn's doors.

Shikai sighs. If Haru is so single-mindedly determined to pursue such a man, then perhaps his son might be able to deter her. She knows about that man from Haru's past, knows about the heartbreak Haru had experienced before. And if it's one thing Shikai knows best about matters of the heart, it's that experience is a better teacher than any.

She sips her tea and eats the rest of the food in silence.

If there's anything Genma expects to see early in the morning, it's civilians and shinobi going about their day, it's the blue sky, it's Gai and his students on their twenty-something lap around Konoha, it's that pretty woman following behind them like some stalker–

Now that's something Genma doesn't see every day.

He looks around for any signs of her disgruntled friend and sees nothing.

Now's his chance. He just needs to find an excuse. He's already given back her hairpin, so there's no reason for him to approach her. Unless he finds a way to make the hairpin drop as he "casually" passes by...

Right. Genma is a shinobi. A good shinobi. A shinobi who should know better than to use his ninjutsu skills to approach a pretty woman on the street. It's not like he's out to get her or anything. It's harmless. It's just a senbon shot hard enough to knock her hairpin to the ground. He got perfect scores at the academy and he's never missed his mark.

Shiranui Genma has pinpoint accuracy and no one can tell him otherwise.

Which is why the moment his senbon is returned straight to him is an absolute moment of surprise.

He catches it with his hand rather than his mouth. It was thrown with the same amount of force, a force strong enough to pierce the needle through his face, a force that couldn't possibly come from–

"Identify yourself."

She appears in front of him suddenly, like a dream, like a mirage. There's not a hair out of place or the slightest crease in her attire, an expensive-looking kimono. She smiles down at him, her eyes crinkling at the edges. He almost doesn't what to say or do until he sees the set of senbon pressed between her fingers.

So she's a shinobi, then.

Probably not an enemy, but he can't assume such a thing when she had so obviously thrown his senbon back to his throat.

"Shiranui Genma."

One of the things he learned back at the academy was to never tell the enemy his name.

Still. This is Konoha. He has something like a home-field advantage. If she dares attack him, or anyone in this village, she must have a death wish.

Which he hopes she doesn't.

"You threatened me." She looks at him with bright green eyes, the kind of green that makes Genma think of springtime. "Why?"

He doesn't know if he should admit such an embarrassing thing. She could give him two possible reactions; she could laugh at him or she could be flattered. Oh, three actually. She could also try and stick those senbon into his face.

Special emphasis on try because as pretty as she is, he won't show any mercy to an enemy.

He especially hopes she isn't an enemy.

"There was a bee–"

She sticks a senbon deep into the table before he could finish his sentence.

"No. Try again."

What a terrifying woman.

It's the thrill that gets to him and makes him answer, "I was the one who found your hairpin."

She hums, a near-silent tone that makes him want to hear her actually speak. She retrieves the senbon from the table with an unusual sense of ease. She retracts the rest of them back into her sleeve before pulling out an orchid.

"You have my thanks." She says, placing the flower down on the table. "But do take note that women like roses rather than thorns."

He doesn't know what to make with her words and merely watches in silence as she leaves.

But if that wasn't some subtle hint, Genma doesn't know what is.

Haru walked out of the restaurant with an indignant huff. She was just minding her own business when this shinobi shot a senbon right at her head. She could almost imagine Shikai telling her it was too early to be causing a scene, but not before cutting that shinobi's hand in one quick stroke.

Well, Shikai wouldn't actually do that.

Not when he was the man who was in Shikai's room last night, that man who found her hairpin and had returned it albeit to the wrong person. Haru thinks it's either strange or cut that he had made such a mistake, even stranger that Shikai hadn't mentioned his name at all.

Are you keeping secrets from me now, Shikai-san?

But she doesn't want to think of Shikai at that kind of person, she doesn't even think that this Genma fellow is even her type.

He looks too plain, after all.

But Shikai's supposed romantic pursuits are of no concern to her, not right now, not when she's lost that boy who looks too much like the man of her dreams.

He couldn't possibly have a family, can he?

She doesn't want to assume, but the thought gnaws at her. She's too deep in her thoughts to notice two figures running too fast for anyone to see. And Haru, despite her rigorous training, when she thinks too much, too deep about something especially important to her, tends to zone out.

She falls to the ground before she even realizes it.

Well, not exactly.

She's caught by a pair of hands, large and warm, and hits a very solid, a very warm, and quite wet surface.

She's learned not to close her eyes at the moment of impact let the enemy take advantage, but at that moment Haru wanted nothing else but to disappear.

It was him.

The mighty Green Beast of Konohagakure.

And he was holding her in his arms.

This is too fast!

And in front of her is his son.

"I apologize, ma'am!" The boy exclaims with all the energy in the world.

And Haru is overwhelmed, too overwhelmed about all of this.

The Green Beast laughed. "It seems running backwards will be reserved for the early morning hours, Lee."

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" The boy saluted.

"Sensei"? So they aren't... No, they couldn't be...

And turns to her suddenly, too close, filling her vision with nothing but the sight of green, tanned skin, and chiseled features.

"Again, I apologize for my student, ma'am." He says, voice as clear as the morning sun, "I hope you're all right."

"I am." She manages to croak.

Oh, how unattractive!

"That's good!" He steps away. "Let's go, Lee! We have fifteen more laps to go!"

And he's about to bolt away, but Haru isn't going to let him go, not that easily, until she knows his name.

"What's your name, sir?"

And he gives that smile, the same one he gave the first time they met.

"My name is Maito Gai, my good woman! And this is my student Rock Lee!"

He does a pose–places a hand on his hip and cocks it to one side, gives a thumbs up, and winks–and the boy follows suit.

"We're the Green Beasts of Konoha!"

She thinks they're absolutely charming and she's sure her face is as red as a rose in full bloom and she should tell them her name lest she doesn't get a chance like this again–

"My name is Koubaku Haru."

She smiles shakily.

And it's not until they've run off that she realizes nothing had come out of her mouth.

No! Wait!

She knows she can't run that fast and she knows that waiting for them would raise questions from both them and the people in this place. What woman would wait for this supposed stranger to finish running a lap just so she could tell him her name? Haru was not that kind of woman, and there would definitely be other opportunities while they're here in Konoha.

It's the Chuunin Exams after all. There are bound to be opportunities for her to meet him again. The day is still young and the Botanical Gardens are just about to open.

Yes. There will be other opportunities.

She wonders if they run the same route every day and thinks about the probability of "accidentally" bumping into him the next day.

She has to make sure she looks her best then.

Meanwhile, Shikai, with little to no interest in Haru's antics this morning, exits the inn about half an hour later. She's usually not one to idle for too long, but the lack of activity prompts her to take her time in eating. She has only been in this village for a few times, some times regrettably shorter than others, but she can't say that any of the times actually count as a visit.

Well, one particular time was something she'll never forget.

But that was too far into the past to even matter now.

She has three more days before the actual exams start.

She knows nothing about this village, so she decides to take a stroll.

Of course, an armed samurai taking a stroll around the village is nothing strange at all.

She could choose to stay behind at the inn or walk around. Surely Lady Miyabi's token would grant her some peace, so she walks. She avoids the crowded streets and looks for a park or an open space. She's out and about. She had her two swords with her. She might as well do her katas.

So it's quite surprising that she finds the training grounds, and even more surprising that the first field she finds is empty.

Well, shinobi wouldn't attack just anyone for occupying their field, would they?

She begins with basic stances. Regulates her breathing. Takes careful note of her surroundings. She listens to the wind, smells the grass beneath her feet. Concentrate. This is just like her mother taught her. And then she starts with iaido, one of the most difficult schools she has had to learn. She dares to do fifty perfect flights.

One. Two.

She listens.

Three. Four. Five.

She listens closer.

Six. Seven. Ei–

She knocks down a kunai with the very same sword before whipping her head to its origin.

And out comes a girl, her skin flushed and sweaty.

"You're a samurai, aren't you?" She asks without any such tone of respect.

"I am." Shikai sheathes her sword.

"I have a katana, too." The girl declares. "Teach me."

Shikai merely looks at her with an expression of utter disbelief.

"One. You will address your elders with respect."

The girl's determined expression falls.

"Two. You have no right to request such a thing of me."

That ought to send her running, but she stands her ground.

"Three. You won't learn something in just three days."

She assumes the girl is one of the competitors in the Chuunin Exams. She sees the small scars and light bruises all over the girl's arms and neck. She's pushing herself. She's pushing her body to its limits. She should use these three days to recuperate and heal. There's nothing to be gained in working too hard.

But the girl isn't leaving.

Shikai sighs and decides to leave.

She doesn't have time to train children in this village.

"Your stances look beautiful." The girl calls out.

And Shikai stops.

"Beautiful."

It's a phrase too close to something else. It makes her remember something painful. And that much is evident when she whips her head at the girl.

"My name is Tenten." The girl continues. "And I've learned how to use weapons in less than that."

If that was some declaration of her worthiness, Shikai thinks it's more of a childish reason.

"Good for you, then." She huffs. "I hope your teacher knows that."

"He does!"

Oh, she just won't stop, won't she?

"So he told me to find someone who can teach me better."

So the shinobi here know nothing about kenjutsu, is that it?

"I was training out here and I saw you."

Oh, so probably others have as well.

"Look." Shikai stops her from saying anything more. "I don't take students."

The heartbreak on the girl's face is something too familiar to her, but she pays it no mind. She walks away and doesn't look back.

She half expects a rain of kunai to fall around her, an angry scream coming fast from behind, an impulsive attack aimed to make a point–

Nothing.

What does come, though, is a single, decisive scream.

"Please let me watch your katas!"

How can this girl be so determined?

She turns to the girl slowly then, and mutters defeatedly.

"Fine."

The girl, Tenten, smiles brightly.

A/N: So, I don't know where to go with this? It's like it's branching out, but rest assured everything is connected! I've honestly been wanting to give Tenten and mentor figure in so long (like 2017 long), but I just couldn't find the right person or the right time to write it. So when this came along, I thought why not? Tenten is minor enough of a character (which is just heartbreaking because she's my favorite Konoha 11 girl) for this to happen without any major repercussions, so there it is.

Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading.