• "Wha...Where am I?" Tenten whispered. For a while now she had been floating in a state of dreamy consciousness between a haze of pain and quiet darkness. But now she had opened her eyes to see a cold stone ceiling greeting her. Her whole body hurt, and when she tried to move the room spun and she fell back, woozy. Clink! The sound resounded around her, making her wince from the pain it caused in her head. "What...?" she mumbled as she gazed at the shackles attached to her wrists. Heavy chains were attached to them. They ran a little ways across the floor and up the wall to large iron bolts which fixed them to it. By the heaviness she felt on her ankles, she realized that there were shackles on her ankles too. Apparently she was in a dungeon of some sort.

    Slowly, she sat up and groaned a little as her body ached in protest. "Dang it..." she muttered, realizing what had happened. "Stupid, stupid, STUPID!!! Idiot!!! I let myself get caught by the enemy!!!" Suddenly she realized she was crying. "What the heck?...Why am I crying?! Come on Tenten, this is no time to go to pieces! You have to escape! I got to... she trailed off. "Then again, who would care if I just disappeared...? I bet Mom and Dad haven't even noticed that I didn't come home..." she mumbled sadly. Tears welled in her eyes. Her shoulders began to shake as she held back the sobs that were trying to force themselves out. "Come on, Tenten." she whispered to herself as she stood and wiped her eyes. "This is no time to crying about these problems. I've got to be strong." She pulled out a file and went to work at the chains.

    "That won't work." A low voice said nearby. Tenten spun around brandishing a kunai. A man in a black cloak was standing outside her cell. "Who are you?" Tenten cried out. "Heh, foolish little girl, your in no position to be asking questions." Tenten, in frustration, threw the kunai with all the force she had at the man. Suddenly the kunai was reflected. Tenten flinched as it hit and stuck in the ground next to her. "I told you that wouldn't work." the man said once again. "Those chains and walls of this cell are reinforced, so it will take more than even the Sanins can dish-out to break them. Also for added insurance, there is a seal on the cell. You will not be able to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu while you are in there." Then he turned and began to walk away. "Wait!" Tenten cried out in desperation. The man didn't even look back, unfazed by Tenten's cries.

    ~~~~~~~~~Back in Konoha~~~~~~~~~~~

    "So let me get this straight." Tsunade said with the upmost suppressed annoyance. "You came here to my office screaming bloody murder, because Tenten didn't show up for practice today?" "Yes, she was obviously kidnaped, so why are you just sitting there, we have to do something!!!" Gai cried while flipping out. Neji and Lee where standing behind him, Neji with his usual disapproving frown and Lee with an uneasy look. "What's the problem?" A very bored sounding voice asked. Everyone looked over to see Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura standing beside the door fresh from a mission. "Oh, Kakashi, how did the escort mission go?" Tsunade asked obviously grateful for the interruption. "It went fine, without a hitch." Kakashi replied in his same bored tone. "Now, what was Gai yelling about...?" Kakashi asked.

    "I was yelling about, Rival Kakashi, about how my precious student Tenten has gone missing!!" Gai retorted. "Gai, if you could please not pronounce someone missing simply because they did not show up for practice this morning." Tsunade mumbled angrily back to him. "But," Lee introjected "This isn't like Tenten at all. She would never skip practice even if she got sick. She just not like that. Plus I have a bad feeling..." "So, you're telling me to send out ninja to look for her because of a habit break and a feeling?" Tsunade sighed. "Did you even try visiting her house? Maybe she's there. You don't know, she could have over-slept or something." "True." Kakashi agreed.

    Gai froze. Apparently that thought hadn't crossed his mind. "Tenten's probably fine. She isn't a exactly a weakling, you know. She can look after herself." Neji said. Lee shot an angry look at him. "So you aren't even worried?!" Lee exclaimed. "I didn't say that." Neji replied calmly. "I just said, that she-" Neji was cut off as Tsunade spun and threw a kunai through the glass of the window. The kunai shot into a tree, and a loud "Thunk" and a cry were heard, followed by a black figure falling to the ground. Everyone rushed outside to see a dead body in a black cloak lying on the ground outside. It had a mask covering it's face. Tsunade knelt by it and felt it's pulse. "Who are they?" Neji asked. 'Whoever they are, their dead." Tsunade replied. She reached over a pulled off the mask, then recoiled in repulsion. Sakura screamed.

    The man...had no face. The flesh was marred and bumpy like his face had been burned away. "What the heck..?" Naruto whispered. "Hey, there's something in his hand!" Lee cried. Indeed his hand was clenched around something. Tsunade opened it. "Huh?" She muttered in confusion. "What the heck is this supposed to mean?" she asked tipping her hand so everyone could see what rested in her palm. It was a necklace. The pendant, hanging off the chain was a image of a blue forget-me-not blossom, made of light blue crystal. "Anybody seen it before?" Tsunade asked curiously. Everyone shook they're heads, except Lee. "Lee?" Tsunade addressed him. "Have you seen it?" "I-I think so...but...Ah! I remember!" Lee said. "I gave that to Tenten, when we first became teammates!"

    "Trying to woo her?" Naruto teased with his usual grin. Lee blushed "No! It was her birthday! So I gave her a present! I didn't know her too well back then, and she told me her favorite flowers were forget-me-nots so, I got her this necklace..." he trailed off, his face 3 different shades of red. Naruto was not listening though. He was laughing at Lee's expression. Sakura blushed a little and giggled. Neji looked plain annoyed as usual. Gai had a big smile, and Kakashi just sighed before smacking Naruto on the head. But Tsunade looked concerned. She got up and began to stride quickly toward her office. "Lady Hokage? What's wrong?" Sakura asked as she and the others followed. "Shikamaru!" Tsunade called out to the passing shinobi who looked like he had just woken up.

    "Yeah?" Shikamaru replied unexcited at the most. "Tell me, when was the last time you saw Tenten?" Tsunade replied sharply. "Hnn? That's it? How troublesome." Shikamaru replied boredly. "Tell me!" Tsunade pressed, annoyed. "Yesterday. She was walking out of the woods." Shikamaru answered. "Was she acting strange in anyway?" Tsunade asked. Shikamaru sighed, annoyed by the onsault of questions. "Now that you mention it, she was acting a little weird. She was so distracted she didn't notice I was there until she ran right into me. Usually she's more aware than that. Also she was acting depressed and when I asked about it she refused to tell me anything." Shikamaru shrugged. "Maybe it was that time of the month!" Naruto helpfully chimed in just before Sakura hit him over the head. "Don't be insensitive!" Sakura scolded as Naruto rubbed his assaulted skull.

    "Shikamaru, go and gather Your's and Kurenai's teams, and bring them to my office." Tsunade ordered Shikamaru. " Gaara, Kankuro and Temari are here as well. Should I bring them?" Shikamaru asked. "Yes, the more help the better." Tsunade replied already striding back to her office, and she motioned to the others to follow. Kakashi was the first to catch up. "What's wrong?" he asked. "I'll explain when everyone else gets here." Tsunade answered without hesitation. "Why?! Is something wrong?!" Naruto asked worriedly.

    "Did something happen to Tenten?" Lee chimed in more that a little bit of worry in his voice. "Hey You!" Tsunade called out to a ninja going down the hallway which criss-crossed with theirs "Would you please locate Tenten's parents and bring them to my office?" Tsunade asked, ignoring their questions. Kakashi sighed, as the ninja obliged and took off. "Wait, Lady Hokage!" Lee yelled, desperate by this point. "Please! Tell us! What happened to Tenten!?" Tsunade looked down at the necklace in her hand, before closing her hand around it. "Let's just say that Gai's claim of Tenten going missing...isn't as far fetched as I thought."
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