Takuma didn't tell anyone about being summoned by the Third Hokage. Telling them would only make them worry, and it wouldn't change anything.
Takuma was practicing Taijutsu on a wooden post at the training ground when a voice called from the entrance.
"I knew you'd be here."
Tenten stood at the entrance to the training ground, dressed in her usual light-colored casual clothes, her ninja tool pouch slung at her waist. She hadn't brought her usual giant scroll, only a small cloth bag in her hand.
"You haven't come by the shop in days." Tenten walked into the training ground and glanced over the shattered stones and toppled wooden posts. "My dad even asked if you'd gone on a mission."
"I've just been training."
"I can see that." Tenten nudged a wooden post fragment that had split in two with her foot. "Did you have a grudge against that post?"
Takuma didn't answer. He went to the side of the training ground, picked up a water bottle, and took a few gulps, then wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.
Tenten's gaze lingered on his face for a few seconds. Then she set down her cloth bag, pulled out two Shuriken, and tossed one to Takuma.
"Train with me."
"...Huh?"
"Teacher Guy took Neji and Lee to the mountains for training, so I don't have anyone to practice throwing with." Tenten held three Shuriken in each hand and jerked her chin at him. "I'll teach you advanced ninja tool throwing techniques, and you can help me practice combat. Sounds like a fair deal, right?"
"Why not ask someone else from Team Guy?"
"I told you, they're away training." Tenten rolled her eyes. "Besides, you know what Neji's like. Sparring with him is just getting beaten up one-sidedly. Lee doesn't know his own strength; he sprained my wrist for a week last time. After thinking it over, you're the best choice."
"Because I can take a beating?"
"And you still owe me for those ninja tools, so think of it as interest."
"...Are you a demon?"
"I'm your creditor."
Takuma was at a loss for words. He put the water bottle back on the ground, walked to the center of the training ground, and stood facing Tenten.
"What are we practicing first?"
"Ninja tool throwing." Tenten pulled a Kunai from her pouch and spun it in her hand. "I've seen your throwing basics. Your aim is decent, but you only throw in a straight line. Real ninja tool throwing means learning to make your tools change course in midair."
As soon as she finished speaking, she flicked her wrist. The Kunai left her hand, traced an arc through the air, curved around Takuma, and embedded itself in the back of the wooden post behind him.
Takuma turned to look. There was nothing on the front of the post; the Kunai had curved around to a blind spot.
"That's called a curved throw." Tenten took out a Shuriken. "You control the release angle and the spin to make your tool follow an arc. It's easy to learn but hard to master. But it's especially useful for someone like you, who likes to charge straight in. While you draw their attention from the front, the curved attack slips into their blind spot."
Takuma took the Shuriken she offered and weighed it in his hand. It was a standard model, with no special modifications. In other words, that arc had come entirely from her technique, not the tool itself.
Takuma aimed at the wooden post ahead, recalled the angle Tenten had used, and put his wrist into the throw. The Shuriken left his hand and managed a feeble arc through the air before bouncing off the post.
"Your wrist is too stiff." Tenten came over and took hold of his wrist. "When you throw in a straight line, your wrist stays locked. But with a curved throw, you have to relax it at the moment you release, so the Shuriken spins as it flies. Like this..."
Holding Takuma's wrist, she guided him through the motion twice.
Takuma tried again, following her instructions. This time, the Shuriken's arc was much more pronounced. It still veered off course, but at least it clipped the side of the post.
"Good progress. Keep practicing. A hundred times."
"A hundred times?"
"That's only a hundred. When I first practiced this, I threw five hundred times in one day. The next day, I couldn't even lift my arms." Tenten went over to the railing and sat on it, swinging her legs in the air. "You throw. I'll watch."
Takuma resigned himself to practicing.
One Shuriken after another flew from his hand. Some arced too widely and flew out of the training ground; some didn't spin enough and went slapping through the air; some managed a curve but veered wildly off course. Tenten sat on the railing, calling out corrections every so often.
After throwing more than fifty times, Takuma finally managed his first successful curve. The Shuriken traced a graceful crescent through the air, curved around the wooden post in front of him, and embedded itself in the one to the side.
"You learn pretty fast." Tenten put her hands on her hips, looking pleased. "I'd expect nothing less from someone personally taught by me."
"Yes, yes. Teacher Tenten is amazing."
"Of course." Tenten ignored the sarcasm in his voice, walked to the center of the training ground, and rolled her shoulders. "All right, now it's your turn to help me practice."
"What are we practicing?"
"Hand-to-hand combat." Tenten turned and assumed a fighting stance. "Taijutsu only, no Ninjutsu. You attack, I defend."
Takuma frowned. "Are you sure?"
"What's with that look? Do you think my Taijutsu is bad?"
"It's not that I think you're bad." Takuma chose his words carefully. "But your specialty is throwing ninja tools, right?"
"I know." Tenten cut him off, her tone calm. "My Taijutsu is definitely not on the same level as Neji's or Lee's. But that's exactly why I need to practice. Enemies on the battlefield won't stay back just because I'm not good at Taijutsu."
Takuma nodded and took a basic fighting stance, not rushing into an attack. They slowly circled each other in the center of the training ground, testing one another's footing.
Takuma moved first.
He darted in and aimed a straight right punch at Tenten's face.
As Tenten sidestepped to block, she drove her left knee toward his stomach. The angle was tricky, but the force behind it was clearly lacking. Takuma pressed her knee down with his palm and used the momentum to retreat half a step.
"You're leaning too far forward when you punch." Tenten didn't pursue him, instead staying where she was to offer a critique. "If I'd dodged that and swept your legs, you'd be on the ground by now."
"...I thought you said I should attack and you'd defend?"
"I can point out your flaws while defending, too." Tenten sounded perfectly justified. "Again."
After sparring for a while longer, Tenten started to tire. Fine beads of sweat covered her forehead. "Your stamina is ridiculous. You're barely even out of breath."
"I was born this way."
"Is everyone in the Senju Clan like that?"
Takuma paused. Tenten had asked casually, as if it had just occurred to her. She probably only meant that his family had great stamina; she hadn't meant anything deeper about the Senju Bloodline.
"...More or less." He gave a vague reply.
Tenten didn't press him. Her tone suddenly turned serious.
"Hey, if something's bothering you, you can talk to me."
"You haven't been yourself lately." Tenten set down her water bottle and looked him straight in the eye. "You've always trained hard, but you've never gone days without coming by the shop. And the way you look at people has changed. It's like you're on guard against something."
Takuma fell silent for a while. He hadn't expected Tenten to notice.
But the Third Hokage's words still echoed in his ears—"Danzo is only one of them." It was too serious to explain by simply saying, "I'm being watched." And there was no benefit to dragging Tenten into it.
"It's nothing serious," he said. "The Chunin Ninja Exams are coming up, and I'm under a bit of pressure."
"All right." Tenten's tone made it clear she wasn't convinced. "But if you feel like the pressure's getting to be too much, come by the shop. My dad just got in a batch of special ninja tools. Maybe they'll help you relax."
"...Are you trying to sell me ninja tools?"
"Of course." Tenten sounded perfectly justified. "Caring about a childhood friend and expanding the customer base aren't mutually exclusive."
Takuma couldn't help laughing.
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