Disclaimer: Will only be said once. All characters except for Tenten's father are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. Setting is his too. Plot is mine. Humour will play in later.
Pairings: NejiTen, SasuSaku, NaruHina, ShikaIno, maybe others
Note:
RANCH! narration
"Ranch!" talking
Ranch! thinking/info
Ranch! sound effects
Chapter 1: Be Free...not.
Even tough the sun had just shone through the sky, two figures could be seen in a clearing full of weapons embedded in the ground and trees and various man made craters. Both were breathing heavily but it seemed that the female, dressed in a navy blue tank top of Chinese origin that was now covered with mud, was breathing heavier than her male counterpart. He, though exhausted from training, was clean. His white eyes stared blankly at his partner, while the other glared daggers at him, clutching the katana in her hand even more.
"Can we please take a break?" the female asked suddenly dropping her guard.
"Why?" he decided to ask though usually he would just give her a grunt that she would take a response.
"HE TALKS!" she exclaimed sarcastically earning a glare from the other. "To answer your question, I want some food before we continue."
"Hn" he replied back. Why do I need food? I can go on for much… he thought but his stomach thought something else as it grumbled in protest.
His female friend giggles at him as she preformed a series of symbols that made her weapons disappear back into various scrolls. The katana she wielded, however, stayed out and back in the sheath on her side. "Come on Neji, your not fooling anyone…at least your stomach isn't." she said, walking towards the tree that stood guard of their things.
"5 minutes then we're going back to training." He replied coolly as he followed her. He knew that she would be rolling her eyes at him and probably muttering something about how he is an egotistical moron who thinks of fate and training too much for his own good while his body was telling him to feed himself fast.
"5 minutes? We've been training for at least an hour already. 15 minutes at least." She replied.
And so our daily bargaining commences… "7 minutes, Tenten" he replied.
"10"
"7"
"10" she said sternly though she knew this would end with the prospect of 8 and a half minutes to eat.
"You know the outcome so why bother fighting about this pointless discussion?" h asked taking a seat beside her.
"because it gets you talking." She replied handing him a piece of cake that she had brought for their breakfast. He took it, like always, and ate it silently. A few minutes later, she handed him her water container, surely containing milk for it was the morning and they needed the calcium for their bones. They were Ninjas after all. For them it was the typical day. Wake up at 4 in the morning, train endlessly for an hour, stop because she wants to eat, have their morning negotiations about how long to take a break, end up eating in peace, enjoying the morning wind and sunrise until they were both ready to start training again. Yes….typical morning until they both heard a rustle in the bushes that broke the normal.
Looking over at Tenten, Neji drew out a kunai from his leg holster as she picked up her katana that lay beside her. Nodding to each other, both rushed towards the bush that made the noise to find their other team mate, almost dead from exhaustion.
"DAMNIT LEE!" Tenten yelled as she violently shook their friend and teammate awake.
"Huh? Tenten? Why are you in my house?" Lee asked
"House?" she asked before punching him on the head "STUPID! YOU'RE AT OUR TRAINING GROUNDS!"
Neji, not wanting to get involved with his teammates bickering, well more of Tenten yelling her lungs out at Lee who appears to have not yet slept, calmly walked over to where they previously sat and quietly put away the things they used for breakfast.
"BUT TENTEN! I COULDN'T GO TO SLEEP UNTIL I DID 500 PUSHUPS! SINCE I FAILED THAT I TOLD MYSELF TO RUN 2000 LAPS AROUND THE VILLAGE SO I WONT DISAPPOINT GAI SENSEI!" Lee reasoned.
"ARGHHH! I give up on you…" Tenten said and sighed in defeat. If there is one thing she would want to change, it would be the encounter of her teammate with their former teacher but still trainer, Gai.
Turning her attention back to her interrupted breakfast, another unexpected interruption, this time from a certain blonde who wears too much orange, came along.
"NEJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Naruto screamed as he came running, panting like he just ran from seeing Orochimaru naked. He stumbled into their training ground, tripping over the now sleeping Rock Lee.
"hn…." Neji acknowledged the blonde's presence as he sat under the tree preparing for his usual meditation. Tenten, on the other hand, looked at the blonde on the floor, thinking why her morning went from good, to worst in a matter of minutes.
"Tsunade-baachan wants to talk to you and your girlfriend here." He said sitting up and pointing his finger to Tenten.
"I am NOT his girlfriend," she retaliated.
"That's right…Neji would never get any…" the blonde thought loudly earning to punches on the head courtesy of the two other ninjas who passed by him walking towards the village.
POW!
"itai…"
- Uchiha Residence -
Ding dong. Uchiha Sasuke, the now sole survivor of the Uchiha Massacre, opened the door to see his former pink haired teammate and close friend, Haruno Sakura, smiling at him cheerily.
"Good Morning Sakura." He said moving aside to let her in.
"Good morning Sasuke-kun. I'm not coming in. I was just asked by the Hokage to come and get you for a meeting."
"hn…" he said opening the door a bit wider. "Come in for a minute. I have to feed the dogs before we leave"
"Okays"
- Clearing where Tenten and Neji were training -
Uzumaki Naruto scratched his head where Tenten and Neji had hit him. "Damnit…why do punch hard…then again they both are ANBU…" He said remembering his mission. "THAT'S RIGHT! I STILL HAVE TO GO GET HINATA-CHAN!"
As he said this, a girl with short navyish blue hair came towards him. "Ano..N-Naruto-kun…Tsu-Tsunade-sama is looking for us." She said poking her fingers like before.
"RIGHT!" he yelled grabbing her hand" "let's go Hinata-chan."
- To the Hokage's Office -
"Why do you think Tsunade-sama would want to talk to us?" Tenten asked looking at the up at the clear blue sky that has formed.
"Another mission I would guess…" he replied paying attention to the road in front of him. He noticed that a few villagers that they passed looked at them awkwardly and started whispering among themselves.
"Stupid Lee and Naruto…they had to ruin our training…I was about to kick your ass too." She said looking over to him smiling.
"Hmm," he smirked at her, "from what I remember, you didn't even hit me." Tenten glared at him before trying to punch him. Of course, he wouldn't let anyone land a hit on him so she ended up being pinned to the nearest tree, both arms above her head, him smirking like mad closely to her face. Though muddy, she looks pretty like this…
The hell! Why cant I ever hit him! And why do I feel like…CRAP! NO! GO AWAY BLUSH! GO AWAY! She screamed silently at her mind. "Let me go Neji."
"Hn...I win again." He said releasing her and continuing on to the Hokage's office.
"Morning Tenten-san" Sakura said from behind them "Morning Neji-san"
"Haruno. Uchiha," Neji responded turning around a bit.
"Morning guys." Tenten chirped falling instep with Neji again. "Hokage wants to talk to you too?"
"Yup. I don't know what it's about though" the pink haired girl replied. "I heard she called for Naruto and Hinata too."
"We better get going then. If she called both Hyuuga, the dobe, and I, then it must be an important meeting." Sasuke said getting a nod from the other 3 as they disappeared to the Hokage's office.
- In the Hokage's Office -
Tsunade, the fifth Hokage of the Fire Country, looked over the files in front of her. 6 of the best jounins of Konoha…they grew to the ranks fast…" she thought to herself. She picked up the first file.
Name: Hyuuga Neji Age: 19
Rank: Captain of Raven Anbu Team
Former Teacher: Maito Gai
Genius of the Hyuuga Clan. Does all orders swiftly and has never been caught. Leader of the Raven Squad Anbu Team with former teammate, Matsumoto Tenten as vice-captain.
Name: Matsumoto Tenten Age: 19
Rank: Vice-Captain of Raven Anbu Team
Former Teacher: Maito Gai, Mitarashi Anko
Unequaled weapons master of the Konohagure. Vice Captain to her gennin teammate, Hyuuga Neji. Excellent with long range combat as well as short range using katanas and taijutsus. Under Anko, learned snake techniques.
Interesting… Tsunade thought. These two have known each other since they were at least 6, have been together in a team since 12 and they have yet to fail a mission when both are in action at the same time. Neji requested for her to be in his squad for ANBU too…should be interesting to see how these two will take the news…She picked up the next two folders.
Name: Haruno Sakura Age: 18
Rank: Jounin – Leader of Medic Team
Former Teacher: Hatake Kakashi, Tsunade
Youngest leader of the Konoha medic nins. Trained under the Hokage herself and was the one responsible for bringing back Uchiha Sasuke with her former teammate, Uzumaki Naruto.
Name: Uchiha Sasuke Age: 18
Rank: Vice-Captain of Fox Anbu Team
Former Teacher: Hatake Kakashi, Orochimaru
Village Traitor. Returned to the village after the fight with Itachi and Orochimaru. Both were killed by Sasuke's hands. Was returned by former teammates. Became the vice captain to his best friend's Anbu Team.
The beauty and the traitor…he redeemed himself nicely by killing both itachi and Orochimaru but he still left the village. And even if he is a traitor, Sakura didn't seem to forget how much she cared about him….and she is the only one who he talks to... aside from Naruto who bugs him a lot…Sasuke will be angry at the news, Sakura…I'm not sure…the Hokage thought as she heard voices coming towards her office door.
Name: Uzumaki Naruto Age: 18
Rank: Captain of the Fox Anbu team
Former Teacher: Hatake Kakashi, Jiraiya
Still a loudmouth but now an extreme pervert like his teachers. Amazingly, he developed a sense of taste over the years and has eased off the ramen. Returned Uchiha Sasuke with Haruno Sakura. Captain of the fox squad assassination team.
Name: Hyuuga Hinata Age: 18
Rank: Jounin – Secretary and Medic in charge of the Anbu squads
Former Teacher: Kurenai, Tsunade
Heir to the Hyuuga family and an excellent medic nin. Though lacking the stamina for combat, her jyuuken skills have developed greatly due to training with his cousin's sparring partner, Tenten, and the times she spends training with Naruto.
The blonde woman chuckled. Naruto and Hinata…Captain of the assassination team…that loud mouth brat…I like the way he changed Hinata though…her skills rival Sakura's a lot…I'm sure they will take the news the easiest.
"TSUNADE-BAACHAN!" Naruto screamed as he dragged the blushing Hinata into the Hokage's office. "Why the hell do you want us here?"
"Shut up dobe…" Sasuke said appearing at the doorway with Sakura, Neji and Tenten.
"WAA! Even Sasuke-teme and Neji-freak is here!" the blonde exclaimed earning him a punch from the Hokage and two pissed off Jounin females.
"You were the one who came to get us" Neji said calmly.
"Please take a seat," Tsunade said sipping her coffee. "This might take a while to take in" that's why you're gonna get tied down to your seats once you sit down.
"What might?" Sakura asked as she sat down beside Tenten and Hinata
The Hokage waited until all of them were seated and that the two ninjas hidden from view had tied them down to their chairs. "The planning for all your weddings," she told them evenly.
"WHAT?" they all exclaimed.
What are they going to do now? Will they be able to escape the ropes? Who put them up to this? Is Tsunade sober or drunk? Find out Next chapter.
Read and Review Please.
Preview: Chapter 2: I wished I ran so far away.
"I'm an orphan. My parents couldnt have set me up for this," Sasuke said.
"But they did," Kakashi replied pulling out an envlope.
...Not spoiling the letter...
I guess this is why Itachi killed them...I would have too ifI had known... Sasuke thought as he tried to soak in the information.