Trump Card

A predatory smile crossed Tenten’s face as she leaned further onto the desk, her knee now on the top and revealing part of her thigh. Her eyes were little more than slits as she looked at the man sitting across from Shino, and she had a feeling her smile wasn’t helping things. Good. This wasn’t supposed to be a pleasant meeting for this pathetic piece of trash. Just the sight of him was enough to enrage her to the point she was surprised she hadn’t attacked yet. Shino was calm though. His hands and laced fingers hiding his mouth as he peered through dark plastic. From where Tenten was though, she could see the slight smile on his face.

It was hard being so young and having so much power. Everyone expected Shino to blow it. He was only twenty-two after all and overnight he had been thrown into his father’s chair as the head of one of Konoha’s most powerful crime families. It was so much so soon, and he had always seemed so far away from it to outsiders. But he wasn’t as far as they thought.

Even if he wasn’t there all the time, he knew what was going on and his father was training him. That was where Tenten had found herself coming in. She had never known her real family, and lost her adoptive father to the crime wars when she was twelve. Ever since then all she wanted was vengeance. The kind the law couldn’t provide and wouldn’t allow. So she threw herself into physical and mental training. Anything and everything to help her find out who killed her father and take them down. That was what caught the attention of Aburame Shibi. He wanted a bodyguard for his son. At first she thought he was involved with her father’s death, or part of the cause. Turns out he lost his wife to the same people she was looking for. He promised her vengeance and pay if she would protect his son.

It was tempting and minutes after the offer, she’d agreed.

Her hands ran down Shino’s chest, her fingers playing slightly with the folds of his shirt, never taking her eyes off the other. It was a power play. Showing how much devotion she had for him and Shino’s unchanging expression showed how cold he could be. They couldn’t see his sideway glance though. The way he looked that told her he wanted her, but to wait.

This hadn’t always been how it was. At first they agreed that professionalism was best at all times and that it would never get beyond friendship if it even reached that level. Shino respected his father, but felt odd having to have a ‘babysitter’. Over time though things happened. Lines were crossed and neither bothered to redraw them. Soon Tenten was more than a bodyguard. She was his lover, and his enforcer. His right hand as the saying went.

Until his father’s murder though hardly anyone else knew about that. Now everyone knew.

The man was visibly shaking as the quiet that fell over them became almost to much to bear. His life was at stake and he knew it, but if he didn’t want to play by the rules he should have never made a deal with the devil. And Tenten was getting impatient watching him try to decide.

“Shino, he’s taking to long. Can’t I just kill him?” she smirked, running her tongue over her top lip.

A sharp breath made the man look harder at the cards on the table, his hands shaking even more as he tried to decide.

“You’re so violent today, Tenten.” Shino chuckled. “Just give him a chance.”

This was the game Shino played with those who were foolish enough to make deals and try and back out. He’d bring them in the small backroom, put three cards on the table and have them choose. Two of the cards had a weapon on them. The one Tenten would use to kill them. The third, was his trump card. A free pass that let them walk out of the room alive without even a scratch and ensured they would never be contacted again. So far only one person had ever chosen correctly, and it was a wasted chance. The strain had been to much for him and two weeks later they found him dead in his home. A single gunshot wound to the head.

Power plays. Tenten was starting to love them.

Several more minutes passed before the man’s hand rested over a card, tears starting at the corner of his eyes.

“Are you sure?” Shino asked, his voice tinged with concern.

The man’s eyes widened briefly and he quickly changed his mind, settling on the middle card rather than the one on the right. He nodded, and flipped it over.

A brightly painted kunai stared up at him and his eyes widened further in horror.

“I only said are you sure. Not to change your mind.” Shino flipped over the original card, revealing Tenten’s face. She smiled at him, always flattered when he revealed her as his trump card. “Should have stuck with your original choice. Tenten. If you will…”

The man instantly leapt from the chair and bolted for the door, but Tenten was faster. Leaping over the desk, pulling the knife from inside her shirt and just as his hand grazed the door, her arm was around his neck. The knife biting into his throat and slicing it open before he had time to scream. Blood splattered on the door and the man sank down, dead before he came to a stop on the wooden floor.

Tenten smirked as she twirled the kunai, and took her time putting it back in her shirt, revealing a portion of her breast as she leaned across Shino’s desk.

“I love it when they run. It makes it so much more exciting.” She grinned.

Shino smirked back, standing up and offering her his hand as if nothing had happened, and leading her towards the door behind them as if to a social event.

“I’ll alert someone to clean this up, in the meantime we have other business to attend to.” his voice was business like until he raised an eyebrow at the end. “Once that’s done though…I purpose we do something exciting for us both.”

Tenten laughed, taking his arm again. People expected Shino to fail because of how young he was. But he was smarter than them all, and as long as he had her as a trump card, she’d make sure he never fell.

Another entry for 's Alternate Universe Contest. This time a bit darker. Didn't think it needed a mature tag, but let me know if you guys think it does. hope you like it.

Blood brushes by: [link]

Naruto (C) Kishimoto