A/N: Posting this before the manga gets any further and all my confabulation on the possibility of Kisaten is completely annihilated by the awesomeness of Gai and Killer Bee.

l'ivresse des grandes profondeurs

Chapter 1: Diving into it

"Tenten."

His grin made her wary. Contrary to public opinion, Maito Gai's smile could mean many things. Very few people outside of Team Gai could tell the differences, but Tenten, who had grown up learning to distinguish the nuances between Hyuuga Neji's frowns, had by now discerned the portent of each of her sensei's blinding smiles.

This smile promised a training that would be either:

a) insanely difficult,

b) completely embarrassing, or

c) both.

Tenten regularly tried various ways to diffuse or avoid Gai's imposing alternatives b) or c) upon her. Smiling back as earnestly as she could, asking distracting questions about Lee, and mentioning various non-humiliating trainings and missions her idol Tsunade had previously accomplished were among her top gimmicks. However, once the original Green Beast of Konoha made up his mind, it was usually very difficult to derail him from his objective.

"Hai?" she settled for the cautious question.

"We have worked with the strength and vigor of youth to hone your excellent talents as weapons master," Gai said in that fatherly way that he often directed at his students. Just before he began with a training that nearly killed them. "But we cannot neglect the other skills that are equally important in your development and success as a fine and able ninja."

Tenten blinked at him, like a cornered deer. His smile became overpowering and she quickly capitulated, making some sort of sound similar to Lee's exuberant response to a statement from their sensei. Well, it wasn't really very similar to the sound Lee would make, but Gai was content.

"Yes, and for this reason, I have found a small village on the east of Fire Country, which specializes in the training you shall have."

With no further explanation, he had her pack for the trip to the village of Amagoya .

Despite her persistent questions, Gai was surprisingly closemouthed during their travel to the training site. He challenged her to brush up on her interrogation skills to get him to reveal what he had planned. Needless to say, Tenten discovered Gai could in fact rival Kakashi in being deliberately obtuse when he wanted to. His nose might not have been buried in a book of questionable contents, but he would blind her with his pearly whites until she had to leave off and retreat to a safe distance from the sparkles. Despite constant exposure to lovingly maintained glinting metal objects that reflected the light of the sun through careful sharpening and polishing, Tenten was no match for the brilliance that was the smile of a Green Beast.

"Gai-sensei!" she was very nearly at the limit of her considerable patience.

"Ah, we have arrived," once again, she was deflected from her objective and conceded defeat to breaking through Gai's secrecy. She had no doubt after THIS training, her interrogation skills would be up for practice.

Tenten stood atop an overlook and dubiously regarded the small agricultural village below them. The inhabitants went about their mundane business. There was not a training ground in sight, no hidden presences she could sense. Perhaps this was a test for her detection skills?

"What do you see, my loveliest blossom?"

Tenten always wanted to argue that if her parents had intended for people to make botanical references to her, they would have named her Lotus. Or Sakura, though that name was already taken by Lee's crush.

She'd held her tongue before, and she would continue to do so, because her sensei meant well, and who knew, maybe he'd seen a flower with buns somewhere in his travels before Team Gai was formed.

"Just a farming village, sensei."

Then she looked beyond the immediate view to take in the rest of their surrounding landscape, a habit both she and Lee had acquired naturally from growing up with the all-encompassing gaze of a Hyuuga team mate.

"There's another group of houses a little further west, close to the sea." She pointed, shielding her eyes against the setting sun, "They're pretty far-off. Are they part of the same village? If they're on the beach, they probably don't make a living by farming."

Gai was smiling at her. "Very good. Yes, they are part of the same village, and it is with at those houses near the beach where your training lies. Now, let us race to them, while on our hands, before the sun sets!"

"But-" she was speaking to the air. Her mentor had launched himself forward with a shout, rushing downhill with frenetic energy, certain to terrify any small children he met along the way. Tossing her backpack and deftly catching it with her feet as she assumed the same position, Tenten sighed. "Yosh."

They enjoyed the modest repast of soup, rice, and of course, fish, offered to them by the elderly woman with whom Gai told Tenten she would be staying during the duration of her training. He was still keeping mum on what the training was, exactly, so Tenten treated this like a reconnaissance mission and attempted to pick up clues from her surroundings.

The other women from the neighboring houses had come to greet them. They were very friendly and Tenten almost immediately felt at ease. She noticed that, except for her sensei, there weren't any men around . How strange.

The smell of the sea was strong in the house. There were ropes of seaweed drying outside, the husks of various shellfish in small piles in a corner. When she saw a pair of goggles, she understood.

"Gai-sensei," her voice was subdued, while the conversation of the women flowed over them. "Why am I the only one who's going through this training?"

She knew the answer. Her team mates had endured the effects of the water prison jutsu better than she had during Gai's fight with Kisame a few weeks ago, during their S-class mission to Suna. It hadn't been by much, but she knew their enemy had noticed. He would target her if Team Gai ever encountered him again. She would be the weak link.

Gai's smile was gentle, "That is not true, Tenten. Even as we speak Lee and Neji are submerged in the men's hot springs in Konoha as I instructed them, extending the length of time they can remain under water. I brought you to this village, because it is famed for its women divers. Neji and Lee would be a little out of place here, don't you think?"

The women welcomed Tenten readily into their group. They were all much older than her, but laughed and chattered like they didn't care. They were a lot like kunoichi, really, and Tenten enjoyed being with them.

Before Gai left, he gave Tenten ample instructions on regulating her chakra to help her swim, hold her breath, combat decompression sickness and inner ear imbalance, and do the Nice Girl Pose underwater. Tenten ignored the last bit of advice, but found the rest of it very useful. Gai tailored his instruction to fit her particular store of chakra, which was very different from a Hyuuga's, and of course nothing like Lee's chakra network. For all his bluster about the value of plain and simple hard work, Gai also knew finesse, and paid attention to every detail with his students. Tenten had learned the value of making every hit count through her sensei. Now, he gave her tips on how to make every breath last.

"One more thing," he turned to face her, expression serious.

Tenten had walked with him to the edge of the forest. Sunlight dappled through the leaves of the trees, casting patterns upon Gai's green jumpsuit. If he stood perfectly still, he would blend with the foliage.

"There is another unhealthy conditon you should guard against, my young blossom. If you go too deep without sufficient preparation, there is a chance you may fall prey to it without even noticing. When you are in this state, your judgment and perception is impaired, and you may endanger yourself and others who are close to you."

"What's it called, sensei?" Tenten asked. Falling in love? she wanted to quip.

"It is called-" he paused dramatically, "The Rapture of The Deeps."

She left him rhapsodizing about his made-up water sickness, and returned to the village.

"Cold!"

The first time she tried to enter the water, she instantly popped right back out. Balancing on the surface with chakra, Tenten watched in awe, teeth chattering, as the women fearlessly dove into the icy waves. Then a hand grabbed her ankle from below and dragged her down into the depths.

As the days passed, she got used to the chilly temperature, and found she rather liked diving for abalone and oysters, octopi and sea urchins. They became targets she had to find and pry off the rocks with a diving tool that she dubbed as her mutant kunai-spatula. Tenten was very deft with her hands, even when freezing, and made a respectable harvest every week. Within days the women were convinced she could hold her own in the deeper waters. Soon she was ranging further off, beyond where even the most experienced would venture.

"You learned very quickly," Hisa told her as they warmed themselves by the fire after a dive. She was sixty years old, yet still one of the best divers among the group,"It took me months to learn to hold my breath for as long as you do."

Tenten laughed, and shivered, edging her back closer to the fire, "Thank you. When I set my eyes on a target, I don't give up till I get it."

"Ah," the older woman shook her head, "You must learn to let go once in a while. It can be dangerous to lose track of time in the sea."

After a month, Tenten was able to hold her breath for close to nine minutes, far longer than any of the women in the village. Diving season was coming to a close, the sea would soon become too cold to swim in. The women had begun to pack their things for their return to their farms and families further inland.

"We'll bring your bags with us in the wagon," Setsu, her host, told Tenten on the last day. "Maito Gai told me to give you this before we left." She handed Tenten a scroll.

Mystified, and more than a little suspicious, Tenten broke the seal over the scroll, and opened it. As she thought, a burst of smoke signaled the summon of an item.

She stared at the item.

"GAI-SENSEI!" she yelled.

Back in Konoha, Gai noted the disappearance of his special package for his young, youthful student, and grinned in satisfaction. He was certain she would love it.