Toeing the Line

A/N: I need a break from everything so I'm burrowing away from reality, which can bite sometimes. Also, I kinda like OOC Sasuke with a slight touch of shuojo. Something about fluttering eyelashes and blushing makes me chuckle. Or maybe I'm just tired of angst. Sorry if my mental state is producing a rather neurotic Tenten.

Disclaimer: Not mine, but they should be. Maybe for Christmas?

Gai sensei had always said that the key to defeating a genjutsu user was to look at their feet – it was the only surefire way to be able to keep contact with them, predict their movements and avoid their traps. Eye contact was fatal. As clueless about fashion he was, Tenten knew that he knew what he was talking about when it came to battle; he was her sensei for a reason, and she trusted him with her life.

That was the reason why she kept her eyes glued on Uchiha Sasuke's feet. If he was going to try any funny business, she was going to dodge his attack by sidestepping him and then roundhouse kick him in the face. Yeap, she was going to do it, no matter the cost. She was ready and she would not fall under any of the infamous genjutsus he had honed over his sojourn away from Konoha.

"Tenten," she heard the Uchiha say, slightly coughing to draw her attention to his face – as if she'd fall for his trickery that easily. "Did you hear me?"

"Yeah, loud and clear" she politely responded, still not lifting her eyes to his. Surely the Uchiha was up to some devious trick and wanted to annihilate her for whatever reason - she knew that the bloodlust couldn't have possibly been beat out of him! He was probably taking it out on a nameless shinobi that no one would miss – except for two of the strongest shinobi of their generation and a loud, brash jounin, who together, would shamelessly and rather loudly pursue him to the ends of the earth to pummel him into nothing. Not that it would help her cause she would still be dead, but it was comforting to know that she wasn't completely alone.

Tenten didn't want to take her eyes off the Uchiha's feet, lest he try something funny, but she needed to think of a plan – fast. Her neck was starting to strain and she could just tell by the way his weight shifted to his right heel and by the shift of his pants that he had stuck his hands in his pockets. A soft "che" told her that he was probably smirking at her, pleased with her discomfort, the bastard. She made her move.

Feinting first to the left, Tenten then quickly shifted her weight to her right, intending to dart out the opposite way and make a run for it. She didn't know if she could possibly win a showdown against him, not on a Saturday morning when she was unprepared and without her weapons, but she knew she could sure as hell outrun him, maybe even pummel him first – she wasn't on the fastest, hardest hitting team of Konoha for nothing. It would have worked, had he not grabbed her by the arm as she made a run for it.

"Tenten, can you look me in the face please?" he asked, frowning at the girl who refused to look him in the eye. From his experience, the Weapons Mistress was as brash and shameless as her mentor and his hyperactive mini-me, yet here she was in his grasp, a silent and shy wallflower. "Am I so hideous that you're repulsed to look at me?" he joked, hoping that this bit of humor would make her relax. She just stiffened even further and he felt a soft wave of killer intent radiating from her. He let go of her arm slowly and coughed, "I was hoping you'd give me a definite answer, you know." Tenten lost her nerve.

"Listen Uchiha, I don't know what you're playing at, but I'm warning you right now! I might be an orphan but if you're trying to kill me, I have a team who'll avenge me!" Tenten spat out, flinging her head back to challenge this bastard head-on – and looked him in the face. No sharingan was activated. Just a pair of dark, onyx eyes that seemed to go on for infinity, black pools that held secrets and mysterious thoughts. Two dark, dreamy eyes under perfectly shaggy black bangs that framed his chiseled face. Tenten gulped – his genjutsu was so powerful he didn't even need to activate Sharingan to cast an illusion. She was screwed. She should have listened to Gai sensei.

Sasuke stared at the clearly rattled girl in front of him, who was looking at him like he was a ghost. "I'm not trying to kill you, I was just asking you out to dinner," he said, "and why are you looking at me like that?" Tenten suddenly punched him in the face and took to the rooftops yelling "you won't fool me so easily, Uchiha! I know all about your clan and usage of genjutsu!"

Rubbing his chin, Sasuke picked himself off the floor and wondered if all of Konoha's kunoichi were crazy. He shrugged and decided that he might as well have fun with it – he jumped after the fleeing girl and shouted "I'm going to get you, Tenten! I eat brains for supper!"

"… and that, is how mommy and daddy started dating," Sasuke proudly concluded to the awestruck little girl on his lap. "Daddy was so charming and handsome that he made mommy faint with joy." Sasuke's triumph was shortlived, however, as moments later he was walloped by an errant couch pillow thrown across the room by his wife.

A/N: Sorry if this story didn't transition/end well. I didn't really flesh it out properly before writing it. Let me know and I'll just take it down and rework it a bit before reposting then.