Tenten nervously smoothed her silk blouse, then stepped through the doors into the Hokage's office.

Tsunade paused in signing paperwork to look up at the genin, then shuffled the papers before her, drawing a document from the pile. "I have your assignment ready," she spoke without preamble.

Tenten fidgeted. "Anou...Hokage-sama...who will I be working with?"

Tsunade eyed her calmly, then smiled. "Why do you assume you will have a team to work with?"

The younger kunoichi stared at her. "But...Hokage-sama..."

"Relax," Tsunade said, chuckling. "You will not be working alone."

"Then...who...?"

"You are aware, of course, that few shinobi are presently not on missions or otherwise occupied."

"Hai..."

Tsunade nodded, eyes closed. "Your team, of course, is no exception. Gai has requested Lee be exempt from missions until he has finished recovering entirely from his operation, although Lee insists he is more than well enough to perform. This, of course, is an excuse to cover the fact that Gai wants time off to further his prodigy's training." She picked at a polished fingernail. "Hyuuga Neji, on the other hand, is involved in special exercises with the head family of the Hyuuga, at the request of Hyuuga Hiashi."

Tenten nodded, saying nothing.

"I am assigning you to a simple C-rank mission. I am not anticipating any trouble with this assignment, as you and your partner are more than capable of handling anything that might arise."

"Partner...?" Tenten asked.

"There have been reports of bandits on the eastern trade roads along the coast, attacking merchants and travellers on the routes farthest from the major cities and villages. The area is less tame than those villages around the capital and Konoha, due to the lack of any presence of law enforcement. The Daimyo has requested we send a small squad to patrol the trade routes. Two shinobi will suffice, as it is not believed the bandits have any ninja in their midst. Therefore, I am dispatching you, as well as Uzumaki Naruto, to patrol." She glanced up. "You and your teammates have worked with Naruto on several occasions; there should be no problem."

Tenten seemed about to say something, then hesitated and bowed her head respectfully. "Hai, Hokage-sama." She paused, frowning thoughtfully. "But...if Naruto's working with me on this assignment, why isn't he—"

"I have not informed Naruto of the mission yet," Tsunade said simply. "I will call him after I have finished speaking to you, but I wanted a word with you in private before formally ordering the mission."

Tenten tilted her head curiously. "Hai?"

"I just want to explain why I'm doing this," Tsunade began. "To be honest, I was going to ignore this mission request completely, because patrolling trade roads is too time-consuming, and I can't spare any ninja for that long. However..." She paused, measuring her words. "That loudmouthed brat is in here nearly every day, pestering me for one thing or another. As much as I sympathize with his...situation...the fact is, he's getting on my nerves, and I just want him out of the village for at least a few days."

Tenten stared at her for a long moment. "So...basically, what you're saying is you're making me babysit Naruto."

Tsunade grinned. "You're sharp. That's exactly what I'm doing."

The genin sighed, shaking her head. "You're cruel, Hokage-sama." She paused. "Are you sure you can't find a third—"

"I can't spare anyone else. Sorry, but that's how it is."

Tenten slumped. "I understand."

"Good. I'll send for Naruto, and the two of you can be underway by lunchtime."

* * * * *

Tenten kept a wary eye on the orange-clad ninja as the two of them darted from branch to branch high above the forest floor.

It wasn't that she had anything against Naruto, really. Truthfully, she thought he was a nice kid. A little loud, not particularly bright, but definitely a skilled ninja—he'd beaten Neji, after all—and a decent guy all around. A bit like Lee, really, except louder and without all the youth and manliness crap.

She also knew Naruto had a rather bad reputation in the village. She couldn't figure it out for the life of her; she didn't know a lot about him, and from what she did know, he'd been one hell of a prankster before graduating the ninja academy—but surely he hadn't done anything so bad as to make so many people loathe him?

Well, whatever he'd done, he'd never been anything but nice to her, so she had no real problem with him. Still, the thought of being alone with him for days on end...

"Oi! Tenten! You're fallin' behind!"

She blinked. Naruto was quite a bit farther ahead than she thought, and standing upside-down on the bottom of a branch, tapping his foot impatiently. She grimaced and sped up. "Sorry!"

Naruto suddenly lost his footing and crashed on the forest floor, startling several birds into panicked flight. Tenten sighed. *This is gonna be a LOOOONG mission...*

* * * * *

Having left the village so late in the first day, they'd travelled until long after sunset. Once they became too exhausted to continue, they simply found a clearing and slept under the stars—they'd packed camping gear, but neither had the energy to do much more this night than wad up a blanket into a pillow and crash...although, Tenten noted with amusement and not a little disgust, Naruto had taken the time to dig his unusual sleeping cap from his bag and put it on before bidding her goodnight and passing out.

The second day, they stopped at a small village along the trade routes at noon for lunch. They asked the shopkeeper if he'd heard of any bandit attacks, and chatted lightly over their meal. Early in the afternoon, they'd decided on a spot to serve as 'home base' for their patrols for the next day or so, and had taken time to set up camp—a moderate-sized dome tent with a hanging oil lantern and a divider curtain to separate their bedrolls. While Tenten hadn't packed sleepwear due to preferring to remain fully clothed at all times while on missions, she wouldn't have felt comfortable without a barrier between her and her temporary partner.

After all, who knew WHAT that kid was likely to do in the dead of night?

* * * * *

They watched the road for a little over an hour after sunset, after which they split up to spend an hour patrolling the surrounding area for anything resembling a bandit encampment. When they returned to home base, Naruto vaguely bid Tenten goodnight and went into his side of the tent. She heard a lot of rustling cloth, then a soft sigh, almost immediately followed by snores.

Tenten giggled lightly, then smoothed out her bedroll and, removing only her shoes and her equipment pouches, laid down to rest.

It couldn't have been an hour later when she was roused by odd noises. She reached for a kunai, expecting an attack, but relaxed slightly when she realised that the sounds were Naruto grunting and muttering in his sleep. "Mou..." Sitting up, she called out, "Naruto?"

When she received no response, she frowned and lit the lantern. The silhouette of a thrashing figure appeared in the divider curtain. *What the...?* Tenten crawled over to the curtain and pulled it aside. She gasped; Naruto was thrashing around in his bedroll, sweat beading all over his face, mouth twisted in a pained grimace. "Oi, Naruto...!" She hurried over and attempted to wake him. He remained fitfully asleep, however; she removed his nightcap and felt his forehead. *No fever...*

"Sakura-chan...Sasuke..."

Tenten exhaled loudly in mingled relief and exasperation. "Mou, he's just having a nightmare...this idiot..." She started to retreat to her side of the tent, but paused; gently, she reached out and stroked Naruto's damp, tangled hair. "It's okay, Naruto. It's okay," she whispered. *Poor kid,* she thought, *I'd probably have bad dreams too if...*

A particularly vicious jerk of Naruto's arms sent his thin blanket flying; he was clad only in boxer shorts underneath as it was a somewhat warm night. Tenten's cheeks pinkened slightly at seeing a boy she barely knew mostly naked, but her attention was swiftly drawn to the angry black spiral pattern on Naruto's stomach. "What in the...?" She hesitantly reached out and placed her hand on his stomach, slightly alarmed by the heat radiating from that area. "That's no tattoo...is that some kind of seal...?"

"Sakura-chan," Naruto muttered. Tenten gaped; Naruto had begun to quieten down, and the strange marking on his stomach slowly faded away. *Just what...IS this kid?*

She then caught sight of something that made her face burn as though aflame: the front flap of Naruto's shorts wasn't entirely closed, and his...

...and it was...

*Oh my.*

Conflicting thoughts warred in the kunoichi's mind. She wanted to bolt the hell out of the tent and as far away from...THAT...as possible. She wanted to cover it up and pretend she'd never seen it. She wanted to wake Naruto up and beat the hell out of him for exposing himself to her, even unintentionally. She wanted...

...she wanted...

...to touch it.

Hesitantly, Tenten's left hand—as thought of its own volition—moved toward Naruto's crotch, fingers stealthily penetrating the open fly of his boxers. She pulled her hand back quickly as thought scalded; she was halfway to her feet and ready to leave, her face crimson. However, her other hand was still absently stroking Naruto's hair, and she felt him shiver slightly; his breath hitched, and the sound made her pause.

Slowly, she returned to her knees, and more cautiously than before, reached toward the exposed, semi-firm...

*I can't believe I'm doing this!*

Just as before, her hand slipped into his shorts without disturbing the cloth; this time, rather than pulling back, she closed her eyes, steeled her resolve, and pressed forward. Her fingertips met skin—hot, alien-feeling skin—and she opened her eyes, swallowing nervously.

She'd touched it.

Tenten had actually touched Naruto's penis.

She'd never been intimate with a man before, or even really seen a man naked—well, not THIS close to, anyway—and didn't know all the particulars about...THAT...but she did have the basic knowledge all girls her age should have about such things. At the very least, she knew enough to know that Naruto, while apparently aroused, was not yet fully erect. Trembling slightly, she closed her fingers around his member, noting the slightly spongy give to the warm flesh.

Naruto groaned, and Tenten jerked her hand out of his pants again, alarmed, and sprang almost a full meter away, eyes wide.

Naruto, however, was still asleep. "Sakura-chaaaaan," he moaned.

Tenten almost laughed out loud. *Unbelievable...he's having a perverted dream about Sakura!* At least, that's what she thought was going on...why else would he be so...

*Because you were touching his manhood?* a part of her mind chided.

Heaving a relieved sigh, Tenten started to turn and head back to her own bedroll. She was almost across the divider...

A sense of profound disappointment suddenly wound its way through her. She'd touched it—she now knew what it felt like to touch that part of a man's body. But...

...somehow, it didn't seem like enough.

Before she was even consciously aware of what she was doing, Tenten was crouched by Naruto's side again, one hand caressing his bare chest while the other hungrily darted into his shorts and wrapped itself around his stiffening member. Not entirely sure of how to proceed, she simply began gently kneading the warm flesh with her fingers. Her eyes widened as, with a shudder, Naruto's manhood stiffened further, the heat radiating from it intensifying as it became fully erect, filling her hand and quivering with anticipation.

*Sugoi...*

Checking to make sure Naruto was still asleep, and blushing more furiously than she ever had in her life, Tenten brought the stiff member all the way out of Naruto's shorts and stared at it, caressing it lightly as her eyes scanned and mapped every vein running along its length. She began rubbing and tweaking the round, bulbous head of the appendage with her thumb and forefinger. She noted that Naruto's breathing and pulse quickened as she did so; he let out a quiet moan that encouraged her to continue. Warmth was building in her own body; she was tempted to use her other hand to pleasure herself, but reined in that urge—she fully intended to not be anywhere near Naruto should he suddenly wake up while she was playing with his manhood, and she DEFINITELY didn't plan to compromise her own state of full dress in the event she needed to make a hasty retreat.

After all, she was enjoying playing with it immensely, but she wasn't sure she was ready for Naruto to know about it.

*A shame, too...I wonder what it'd feel like to have him inside me...*

Where had THAT thought come from...? Tenten felt she might faint from the blood rushing to her face. Still, as she stared at the twitching staff of flesh she was presently stroking, she felt disappointed that she wouldn't be able to do anything major with it without waking Naruto up...and that would just be awkward. Besides, she wasn't entirely sure she was ready to do that with ANYONE just yet...and certainly not with Naruto, who she barely knew.

Suddenly, an idea came to her, and she smiled. Maybe she couldn't—wouldn't—go all the way with Naruto, but she knew the next best thing.

Checking again to make sure he was still very much asleep, Tenten shifted closer to Naruto's waist, kneeling so that she could bend fully over his lap. Suppressing a nervous shiver, she slowly lowered her face toward the hot, quivering shaft in her hand, and, licking her lips hesitantly, took the very tip into her mouth. She prodded his member with her tongue; it twitched, veins throbbing with hot, rushing blood. Shifting her grip, she slowly leaned further forward, moist lips caressing the thin flesh until most of the length of Naruto's manhood was in her mouth.

Slowly, she drew back upwards, pressing tightly against him with her lips, dragging her tongue along the underside of his penis; he gasped and shuddered, but gave no sign of waking. She stopped with just the head still inside, then plunged her face downward, rapidly filling her mouth with stiff flesh. She held it there, savoring him with her tongue as she caressed the hot length, basting it with her saliva, then slowly pulled up again. As she did so, Tenten moved her free hand down from Naruto's chest and used it to engulf his testicles, firmly stroking the rough sac while being careful not to bruise the precious glands within. She took a moment to rub her left hand along the wet length of the penis, grimacing at the unpleasantness of her own sticky spit in her palm, before once again taking him into her mouth. Rather than holding him there, she drew up again, and began rhythmically pumping her mouth along the length of Naruto's cock while fondling his balls. The stiff manhood twitched as she clamped her lips as tightly as she could around it, teasing and caressing it with her tongue. His breathing was becoming more ragged; his moans were encouraging her. She continued to ignore her own need for pleasure, choosing to concentrate entirely on the task at hand. In, out, stroke, lick...for several minutes, Tenten focused on nothing but Naruto's hard member in her mouth and his balls in her hand, as though this loudmouthed boy's groin had become the be-all and end-all of her existence.

And then, suddenly, it happened. A violent shudder, a loud moan...and Tenten's mouth was full of a hot, sticky, foreign wetness. She gasped, eyes wide... *What the—?*

A full three seconds passed before she realised what had happened, and she felt as though her head would catch fire from the intensity of her blush. A viscous wet warmth slowly dribbled over and through her lips, beads of it settling on the hand that was still wrapped around the member which was beginning to soften.

Bolting to her feet, Tenten darted out of the tent and dropped to her knees several meters away, coughing violently, expelling all the semen into the patchy grass along the side of the road.

Standing shakily, she returned to the tent, alert for any sign Naruto had suddenly awakened. She noted, with a relieved sigh, that even after all that, he was still asleep. Shaking her head and smiling, she rummaged through his rucksack until she found a pocket-sized packet of tissues. Kneeling beside him again, and fighting off various temptations and naughty thoughts, she carefully cleaned all evidence of her trespass from Naruto's body, as well as her own hands and mouth. With relief, she noted that his shorts had managed to survive the ordeal untainted; she wasn't certain she could say the same for her own, and was almost positive she'd need to change panties before going back to bed. She gently pulled the fly of Naruto's boxers closed, then drew the blanket back over him. With a tender smile, she fondly ruffled his spiky blond hair, then stepped back into her side of the tent, drawing the divider closed. A second scrub of her hands and a can of tea to wash away the taste in her mouth later, she extinguished the lantern and drifted off to sleep.

She could worry about her panties in the morning.

* * * * *

Birds twittered as sunlight filtered into the tent. Naruto stretched and yawned, sitting up. "Man...that was a weird dream," he muttered to himself as he absently scratched his belly.

Five minutes later, he was fully dressed and sitting outside the tent, where Tenten had started a campfire and was preparing breakfast. "Good morning," she said. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah. I had some strange dreams, but..." He trailed off. "Ah well, nevermind. We're goin' to the next trade road after breakfast, right?"

"Right," the kunoichi replied brightly.

After Tenten served breakfast, Naruto frowned. "You know, though...one weird thing about last night..."

Tenten froze, a bite of pickled radish halfway to her mouth, eyes widening in horror.

"I didn't have my sleeping cap on when I woke up. Guess I musta knocked it off during the night."

Tenten exhaled deeply, then giggled. "Yeah, I guess that's it. That thing's kinda goofy, you know?"

Naruto chuckled. "I'm kinda goofy too, so it fits me."

The kunoichi looked at him for a long moment, and nodded, smiling. "Un...it sure does."

Author's Notes

Since 9/27/12