AN: So this was written a while ago - I just never got around to posting it. Kankurou/Tenten for lydzidegalles on LJ.
"You," Tenten huffs, bending over to pick up a kama, "are a bastard."
Kankurou smirks, tilts his head to the side. "Such sweet things you say," he mocks, flicking his fingers. The kama is wrenched out of her hands to smack cleanly into a tree-trunk across the clearing.
With a snarl, Tenten grabs for a katana. She feels the weapon jerk in her hands, but this time she's ready. Her own wire snaps tight, cutting into her fingers, and she yanks. She wins out and mentally thanks Lee and Gai-sensei for all her training as she lunges, weapon firmly hers again.
It's just not right for a weapon to disobey her.
A flurry of too-long wooden limbs and too-much wild hair and there's Karasu attacking her. It's the three-eyed one, and Tenten is careful to keep her senses on edge for the second one, Kuroari.
Kankurou is perched in the branches of a tree, contemptuously in plain sight, hands raised and gleaming blue chakra-strings dancing around his fingers. She throws shuriken, and the puppet leaps to block them.
In a moment, she surges forward, ducking under the wild spin of its limbs, making for the tree where he's not even bothering to hide.
Peripherally, she hears a muffled curse from him as he struggles to straighten out his puppets in time to deflect her assault. She can't deny the certain fierce pride she takes in that he can't.
Three quick leaps, and she's on the branch next to him, sword gently across his neck. She can feel Karasu at her back.
"Call it off," she pants. "I win."
There's a too-familiar smirk under that facepaint as he tilts his head a little, shifting ever-so-slightly away from the blade. "Look down," he murmurs.
A slight, razor-sharp pressure is held carefully against the inside of her leg, high up. Very high up. Tenten feels blood rise in her face - mostly embarrassment at being caught out so easily, she tells herself.
"Femoral artery," he says conversationally. "Might not bleed out as quick as the jugular, but it'll do you in just the same."
Tenten bites the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from snapping that of course she knows what the femoral artery is, what does he think she is, some unblooded pre-genin? "Another draw?" she says instead, and is somewhat proud of the fact that her voice is cool and level.
He shrugs. "I suppose so."
Carefully, in a smooth movement that leaves neither of them withdrawing before the other, they step back. A flick of his hand, and the kunai vanishes. Grudgingly, Tenten sheathes the katana and perches on his vacated branch as he drops to the ground to pack up Karasu and Kuroari.
"Lunch?" he calls up, busy with wrappings and uncooperative puppet-limbs.
Tenten folds her arms and doesn't answer.
He rolls his eyes at her. "Don't give me that," he says. "We're both getting better."
She shakes her head, irritated that he would think she'd sulk over something as trivial as losing a simple spar. "It's not that," she says. "I'm supposed to meet up with my team this afternoon."
"Laaame," he says, squinting at the sun. "We've got plenty of time."
He's right, she thinks, but still hesitates.
He sighs. "My treat?" he says finally, tentatively.
Tenten makes up her mind. "All right," she says, jumping lightly out of the tree. "Anything but curry."
Kankurou laughs.
Endnotes: Writing Tenten still makes me nervous. Ah well. Expect more updates in the near future - rassling FFN's formatting into something presentable is a pain in the ass, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet, right?