Blood In The Water: A Tenten Fan Fiction (#3 In Shifting Series)

Man and Woman: The Eternal Struggle

Kakashi was watching Reno closely as they engaged one another.  He was better than Sarah at Taijutsu by far.  He also had a lot of power behind him.  When he would connect with him, which was more often than he had expected, the blows were brutal.  Of course, Sarah he suspected held a little back when training with him but her brother, he was holding nothing back.  Yet he was beginning to believe that the young man was a bit distracted and when he realized that was the case, he knew that there was nothing more in Taijutsu he needed to teach him.  If he was this good while being distracted, he would be formidable in full form.

The two were taking a breather and drinking some water before he finally asked him, "So why are you distracted?"

Reno gave him a look then laughed.  "Damn, you are observant."

"There isn't much I miss when it comes to others anymore," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.  "So what is it?"

"Tenten," Reno said with a rueful smile.

"Oh?  How is that, if I may ask?"

"She wants me to train her on how to use my guns," he responded with a chuckle.  "I've never known a girl THAT into weapons before.  I couldn't charm her with my looks but let her hold my gun once and like a moth to the flame."

Kakashi laughed at the expression on his brother-in-laws face.  He could tell that it bothered him on another level.  "You did say you found her attractive."

"I know and that makes it worse," Reno groused as he dropped to sit for a moment on the ground.  "She gave me this smile the other day and I just wanted to grab her up and run to the house.  But she's so gun-ho women power... Don't get me wrong, I know women can do a lot of stuff but sometimes they get themselves into trouble by getting in over their heads.  She'd be that kind of woman, trying to prove how woman she is and getting hurt."

Kakash knelt and looked across the field for a moment, thinking.  "Yes, Tenten has gotten herself into some situations but she's always come out on top.  Perhaps you're making it more of a thing than it actually is, Reno.  You're guarding yourself from her."

"Kakashi the love master," Reno chuckled.

"I don't know about that but I suspect your sister thinks so," he chuckled.  "Can an older man give you a piece of advice?"

"Sure, I trust you completely," Reno responded.

"Don't think with your head, follow your heart.  When I first met your sister, I was all up in my head and thinking that if we got together something would happen to her because of me.  I made it more complicated than it needed to be.  You obviously are taken with Tenten.  A word of warning though... Tenten was very much in love with her teammate Neji.  When he was killed in the war, she closed herself off.  I don't think she ever thought of anyone else than Neji.  I don't know if Neji even knew she loved him.  Just keep that in mind when you are dealing with her.  You'll have to get around the ghost of Neji if you want to capture her heart."

Reno took a deep drink of his water and gave a nod of his head.  "Thanks for the advice.  I'll think it over."

Kakashi pulled out a piece of paper from his vest.  "Now that I know you are more than skilled in Taijutsu, it's time to see what your elemental strength is.  Just hold it in your hands and it will tell us what your Ninjutsu element is."

Reno took the paper and it suddenly appeared to grow moist and limp.  Kakashi tilted his head to the side, "Interesting, water nature.  Well, we will start there then.  Before I start showing you hand signs, I want you to try to connect to your Chakra network.  This will be important because this is where you will pull your power from."