Foolish Hope

[endless_scrolls]

Title: Foolish Hope
Type: Fanfic
Fandom: AU!Naruto
Word count: 2309
Character(s): Tenten, Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Sasuke; brief mentions of Uchiha Fugaku
Pairing(s): Maybe some slightly implied Sasuke/Tenten, possibly some Itachi/Tenten if you squint a lot
Warning(s): None
Disclaimer: I own nothing but these words.
Note: Randomly written fic inspired by the events and planned plots that took place at TheRisingSun. The headcanon wanted more. Who was I to deny it?
Dedicated to: nothinglanguage and soliloquiii; I miss you guys too~ ♥

"The contractor finished the last of the remodel on Monday and your brother moved in the day after when everything was cleaned up."

Gently, she tugged at the hem of her business skirt and took one last glance at the overall presentation in the mirror before padding across the floor to the living space. The corner of her lips quirked up at the extra steps it took to reach the wall of windows facing out the north side of the building. Despite the weeks that had passed since she moved in, it was still something Tenten had yet to get accustomed with, having a larger suite on a higher floor. She had been fine with what Fugaku had offered her before; almost preferred it over the lavish and spacious room that Sasuke was generous enough to give her now. She was a peasant-born, after all, living a majority of her life in a struggling middle-class household with a brass spoon in her mouth. But with great promotions came great benefits as well, she supposed.

"That was rather quick," he noted, his voice sounding skeptic if not displeased through the receiver.

"Well, you should know better than anyone, Itachi," she quipped, "The Uchiha are very quick to adapt."

Despite it all, though, it was still difficult for her to grasp just how much had changed in such a short amount of time. Only less than a month ago, the elder of the two brothers had been head of the clan, taking up the reigns after their father's sudden demise. And then, in mere minutes, that had all ended; had all changed and shifted as the entire Uchiha empire was handed over to Sasuke. And Itachi had stepped out of their lives forever.

Or so it was supposed to look, she was quick to remind herself. The fact that he was on the phone with her and made a point to call every other week or so said otherwise.

"How are things at the Academy?"

There was a pause, possibly to discern the exact phrasing he wanted to use in answering her inquiry. Words, after all, had always seemed to be important to him. Even if it was rare that he would say more than he needed or went out of his way to hold a conversation with anyone. But given the usual topic of conversation that tended to come up between the clan members, it was understandable why the young man would rather keep to himself. "...The name 'Uchiha' is very well-known here."

"It's the police academy, what did you expect?"

The clan had a very involved relationship with the police force, after all, both positive and negative. More negative than anything else, Tenten supposed, but that was more subject to personal opinions. IT was a fine line between what an individual considered beneficial and good intentioned. And while the Uchiha organization was not inherently evil, it danced across that divide on a daily basis. She would have been more surprised if the name didn't come with an instant reputation at the training facility. And was secretly grateful for it, because it meant that he would remain safe out of fear of retribution.

Still, it would undoubtedly make things a little hard for Itachi and his ultimate plan. And if it wasn't allowed to come into fruition, then all their planning and effort -- all of his sacrifices -- would have been for nothing.

"Just be sure to prove them wrong," the young girl said, her voice becoming softer at the sentiment, "They can persecute your name all they want, but they can't ignore your talent... not after everything."

It was, perhaps, more than she intended to say. And Tenten had known, as the words came out, that if there was anyone who would be able to catch the hidden meanings, it was Itachi. Still, there was always room for error. Always room for hope. Even if it was a foolish hope.

"...What's wrong, Tenten?"

In believing that she had been doing a good job at masking her own thoughts and concerns, the question had been a bit of a surprise. And because she had not anticipated that Itachi would see past her veiled truths, Tenten was forced to take a moment and search for a less than suspicious answer for him. Which only made it more obvious that she was hiding something. In the end, the young woman settled on remaining completely honest. Despite how it would effect him. Well-intended, though she was, Itachi needed to know what was going on with his brother, good or bad.

Long and thin fingers reached up to quickly rake through her hair as she let out a slow and steady huff of breath. THen, with a quick swipe of her hand across the swtich, the tinted glass began sliding into place, filtring out the bright light of the sun. And as the entire suite was engulfed in soft shadows, Tenten turned away from the window and the world to seat herself on the couch. "During the remodeling, since everything was such a mess up there, Sasuke stayed with me in my suite."

"...The two of you have always been rather close. In sharing a living space, it was only natural that things would..."

Her brows furrowed at his words at first, unsure of what he was implying until the real meaning behind them finally donned on her, snapping her brows up in an instance. "Oh, no. It's nothing like that. I slept on the couch the whole time and gave him the bed."

She heard a soft rattle of static on the line that she could only assume was a scoff. Whether it was disappointment, amusement, or some other emotion was left for Itachi to clarify. Or not. "Such a gentleman, my brother."

All the same, coupled with his ambiguous tone, it did well to bring a small smile to her face. "He did offer. But I insisted."

"I would expect nothing less of you." And for a small instance, it almost sounded like he was laughing. Tenten could almost feel the smile of fondness in his words as he spoke. Like he used to on extremely rare occasions. "But if that's not the point of telling me this, what is?"

"...Your brother talks in his sleep sometimes, Itachi." Reluctant to say anything further, she paused and thought about her next course of action. It would be an easy feat to leave things at that and blame her concerns on clan secrets coming out in the middle of the night to any and all lovers Sasuke would ultimately choose to share a bed with. But even so, it was a losing battle. Itachi, after all, was a genius and knew her better than to believe all her concerns centered around what might happen in the unforeseeable future rather than what already has occurred in the present. So it was with a nervous lick of her lips that Tenten leaned back into the couch and continued with her train of thought. "And you know how I am, with the weird hours I keep. Occasionally, I hear things."

"...What did he say?"

"Well, nothing at first, but... eventually..."

"Tenten." His tone was demanding, or as demanding as the elder of the two brothers was capable of sounding. A sorted mix of muted concern, quiet frustration, and contained anger she had only been witnessed to a handful of times. And had only been the subject of such displays once or twice.

She knew he wanted her to get to the point. "...He... he started calling out for your mom. Which is odd, obviously, because he hasn't done that since..."

"...Since she was sent to the institute five years ago."

"Yeah..." the young girl agreed, thankful that he had saved her from having to say the words, herself, "And I can't help but note the timing."

She would have continued -- wanted to continue -- but all thought came to a crashing halt at a light rap against the door that lead out into the hall. And normally, Tenten wouldn't have been expecting visitors since there were very few who even knew that she had made the hotel her home. But Sasuke had called her earlier that morning to remind Tenten that they had an appointment.

"Speaking of timing..." she muttered, mostly to herself though, with the receiver so close to her lips, there was no doubt that Itachi had heard it as well, "Hold on, there's someone at the door."

For all it's caution and high levels of security, the hotel was well guarded. Sasuke was well guarded. Still, Tenten could not help but be careful and suspicious as she approached the door, instinctively searching around for a possible weapon within reach in case she had the need of it. Her own equipment and the sword that normally sat behind the front door for emergencies were still in their respective moving boxes as her own time had been filled to the brim with new responsibilities and obligations that came with being assigned to the security staff. And she had yet to find the opportunity in between to unpack.

Then again, the young woman was quick to remind herself, she probably wouldn't even need it.

Knock, knock, knock.

Briefly glancing between the nearest object -- an old kyuudo trophy from her high school days spent participating in martial arts tournaments -- and the knob, she squashed the last of her paranoia and reached to unlock the door.

And opened it to find none other than Uchiha Sasuke standing on the other side, dressed to perfection and prepared to take on the world. "Ready?"

"Oh, hey," she greeted with a slightly forced smile, "Sure, just give me one second to finish this call."

Turning, she purposely closed the door halfway as a signal for the other to remain out in the hall. Awkward, she knew, wouldn't even begin to describe the situation if he found out that Tenten kept in contact with Itachi. Wounds still fresh from his mostly unexpected departure, it was still a sore subject for the younger brother. And the last thing that she wanted was to pour gas on the flames.

Cupping her hand around the mouth-piece of the phone, she spoke softly, assuming that he had heard his brother's voice through the receiver as well. "We'll talk more about this later."

"Of course. I'll contact you in a few weeks."

With a scoff, Tenten smirked, knowing how meticulous the elder was about his schedule. "I'll hold you to that."

She waited until all that could be heard was the quiet static of the line being dropped before clapping her phone shut and reaching for the briefcase of information she had set on the table beside the entrance.

"Alright, let's go." Closing the door behind her and turning to make sure it was locked, she could not help but take note of the curious glimmer in the young man's eyes. "...What?"

With a bit of effort and perhaps a scrap of will power, Tenten resisted the urge to grin at the way his hand came up to scratch idly at a tuff of hair behind his ear. As if he were an embarrassed child who had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Who was that?"

"Oh... no one important, just... just an informant," came her quick reply, "You know how they are, gotta keep an eye on their investments."

It was true, for the most part. Though she had only been in the business for a short amount of time, the young woman had been able to learn enough to make such comments without there being any belief of falsities or secrets behind her statements. But even as the words came flowing out, they had still sounded odd to her, almost practiced. And perhaps they were. And that was a dangerous game within itself. Others, Tenten could fool easily and without thought. But Sasuke was different just as much as Itachi was. She had practically grown up with them, learning their little quirks and knowing how to read the telltale signs that most others would miss. And if that were true of her, then it would be true of them as well.

Brushing past the moment as best she could, she moved on ahead a few steps to press the elevator button for him to save time. "So, what's on the agenda today?"

"A meeting with the head of Hyuuga Corps," was his reply as they both stepped in past the metal doors. Whether he had noticed her strange behavior a moment before, Sasuke gave no sign of it. Of that, at least, she was glad.

Furrowing her brows a fraction, she turned to him with a look of curiosity. "Hyuuga Corps? The development tech company?"

"Yeah, that one. Seems they're looking for some investment of their own." Here, she watched wordlessly as he leaned back against a corner of the elevator, easing his hands into his pockets. All the while, a satisfied and very smug smirk slowly spread across his lips. "And you won't believe what they're willing to put up as collateral."

Lifting her head up from where it had been tilted, Tenten could not help but feel a spark of excitement build up inside of her. Hyuuga Corps was one of the largest corporations in the city, maybe even the country. Every piece of technology that came in and out of the nation held a tiny corner of the company's reputation as well as it's profits. There were very few they didn't have a thumb in helping to create or develop. If they were coming to the Uchiha for money, then this could very well be a prominent deal for their organization. "...You have my attention."