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

The Killer Returns

Reno was sitting on top of a roof, hammering in new boards when his nose caught the smell of fire.  He shifted then stood, his gaze sweeping for where the smoke was coming from.  He felt a bit of concern when he noticed it was from the same block a little ways away from Tenten's place of business.  A feeling rolled over him that he could not explain.  Somehow he just knew that she was in some kind of trouble.  He shimmied down a pole that ran parallel down the side of the building then started running in that direction.  As he turned the corner, he could see that a very small crowd standing a ways back from her shop who were yelling for water users.  Apparently none of those present had that style of Jutsu.

Tenten was not in the crowd and he was instantly on edge.  Was she inside the shop?  He did not even think about it as he ran up to the door and kicked it as hard as he could.  The wood splintered and he turned to the side as a blast of fire streaked out from the sudden blast of oxygen, feeding it.  He wove some of the signs Kakashi had taught him but only a little bit of water came out.  It must be because the air was so dry from the fire.

"Tenten!  Are you in there?!"

When silence greeted him he went inside and almost immediately had to duck as a blade went slicing past him.  What the fuck!  His eyes narrowed as he looked at the men in the room, one of them had an unconscious Tenten slung over his shoulder.  It appeared that they were trying to get out the back entrance but the door has swelled from the heat inside.  He felt white hot anger as he looked at the men.  Their headbands declared them to be foreigners.

He grabbed the closest weapon in his hand and came at them.  He twisted and turned, taking the kunai in his hand and stabbing it through the first man's neck.  He was coated in a spray of blood but he did not even flinch. He then dropped and rolled as another one was shooting what appeared to be fire balls at him.  Seriously?  He dodged the attack and came up at him, thrusting the weapon into his chest.  

They had no idea the monster that they had awakened in him.  The sight of Tenten being ready to be hauled off to who knows what kind of horror filled him with a rage that made him almost berserk and the plethora of weapons near to hand made it that much easier to unleash on them.  He moved with the quickness he had honed from years on the battle field, only getting sliced across the arm as he shoved a sword straight up into one of them, impaling him.  The last two managed to get the back door open, sensing their doom as he rose up to go after them.

The one holding Tenten abruptly threw her at him in a bid at escape.  He caught her before she could hit the ground and threw another kunai at the back of his head with all the strength he had.  The man jerked as the blade sunk into the base of his skull with deadly accuracy.  Only one of them made it out the backdoor and he was furious that even that one had escaped.

He could hear the sound of water hitting hot flames from behind.  Apparently the water users had arrived as he was fighting the men.  He cradled Tenten in his arms before running for the open door.  Holding his breath because the smoke was overwhelming by then.  He got out just as the roof collapsed behind him.  He sunk down to the ground and looked at one of the Shinobi that was close by.

"Go get that last motherfucker who went out the back!  They almost killed her!"

The man's eyes widened before he turned and yelled at a couple of other men, motioning for them to go to the alley that ran along the backside of the building.  As they ran off, he turned his attention back to the fire continuing to fire water into the building before the flames spread to any of the buildings next to it.

Reno looked down at Tenten and smoothed her hair back from her face.  He then started checking for injuries and only found a rather large bump on the back of her head.  His hands were shaking as he looked down at her.  "Tenten, wake up," he spoke softly to her.  "Come on, wake up baby girl.  Show me those beautiful brown eyes of yours."

She didn't move and his eyes burned a little.  He would have told anyone it was just from the smoke but it wouldn't have been true.  He looked up as what appeared to be a medic appeared and knelt down next to them.

"I think she has a head injury,"  Reno told the medic.  "She has a large knot on the back.  I didn't see any other injuries."

The medic nodded before placing their hands on her head.  A green glow came out of the hands and the medic looked at him, "She'll be fine.  It's a slight concussion.  I've reduced the swelling."

As if on cue, Tenten moaned and her eyes opened.  She looked up at Reno with some confusion.  He was covered in blood and soot.  The look on his face was one that surprised her as did what looked like tears in his eyes.  He smiled at her and then started laughing before pulling her up into his arms in a bearhug that nearly crushed her.

"Thank God you are okay," he spoked against her head.

Tenten then remembered everything that had happened.  She pushed against him and looked at the blood once more.  The realization that he had rescued her was startling.  She then looked towards her dream, her business and gave a cry of disbelief.

"My shop!  My weapons!"

Reno chuckled, "Crazy girl.  Shops can be rebuilt, weapons can be collected.  You're damn lucky to be alive right now."

She was about to argue with him when he shocked the hell out of her and in truth, shocked himself, by kissing her in a way that sent fire through her limbs.  She clutched the front of his shirt to push him away but was unable to do so as she realized she was enjoying that kiss.