Hi hi! Before you start reading this, there's things I must say. First, this fanfic has been in my head for more than a year now. I never wrote it before because I thought I wouldn't have enough time, or that it would be too long etc.. But the story won't leave my head, so I must write it! Why? Because I can assure you this will be the best fanfic I have ever written. Trust me. If you thought my others fics were good, this will be better! That's why it's very important to me that you take some of your time to read it.
Also, at first I had planned to make this story in two parts. The first part would feature only Neji, Tenten and the people closest to them, then the second part would feature everyone and be both a sequel and a prequel to events in part one. That would mean a lot of time skips and loops and going back and forth in time, which would be confusing. That's why I decided I would write part one and two as a whole, and all the events in chronological order. Of course that means many chapters are to come!
So now the main plot revolves around NejiTen, but everyone else is there too as side stories within the main story. Does that make sense?
And yes, this fic is about the characters being older and having kids, which may sound lame to some, but I swear it'll be the best kids fic you've ever read or your money back!
Ok, I'll shut up now!
The Bonds of Time
Prologue
The lazy Jounin yawned as the sky slowly turned golden, announcing that his time was up and that he should probably return home soon, unless he felt like receiving a rain of nagging. Which he rarely avoided. Ah, she was going to nag anyways, so five more minutes here wouldn't hurt.
" Shikamaru."
The young man turned his body in the grass at the sound of his name and quickly recognized Ino's legs as they blocked his view. Great. She had personally come to drag him home.
Much to his surprise, the blond girl sat next to him and turned her gaze to the clouds he was previously watching. His eyes were on her now. He could tell something was up. She had not come here to scold him.
" Ino?"
" Have you heard about Kiba?" she asked, keeping her look on the sky.
" Yeah..." Shikamaru turned her back to her as if hearing the Inuzuka's name was painful. " That's just too bad."
" Do you think he'll make it?" Ino asked in a soft tone.
" I don't know. Becoming a single dad at such a young age... "
Ino felt her heart jump.
" About that..." She was thankful her boyfriend still had his back turned to her, because she knew she'd have trouble speaking to his face. " There's something I wanted to tell you..."
A pause.
" You're pregnant?"
" I am..."
" Troublesome..."
Nevertheless, Shikamaru smiled.
000
000
Kiba was finding it hard adjusting to his new life-style. He was still grieving over the loss of the baby's mother. Everyone knew it he was hurt, so they were trying their best to help. Today, Shino was teaching him how to correctly change diapers. Kiba was amazed.
" Where in the world did you learn how to change diapers?" he asked.
" My wife had her baby last month."
Kiba almost choked.
" Your wife was pregnant!? Wait, YOU HAVE A WIFE?! AND YOU NEVER TOLD US??"
" I guess I didn't."
While Kiba went on and on about how unbelievable Shino was, the Aburame watched the little girl be amazed by a bug on his finger. Named Kouga, the baby had black eyes and brown hair, much like Kiba's. The young man now had full custody of her. Together with Akamaru and Haimaru, one of his older sister's three dogs, Kiba was taking care of Kouga as well as he could.
" What's her name?" Kiba asked, annoyed.
" Who? My wife or my daughter?"
" Both, actually!"
" My wife is named Yanma. She's also from the Aburame clan. My daughter is named Aruki."
" Is that so..."
Despite him being secretive, Kiba never would have thought that Shino wouldn't tell anyone about his family. Then again, Shino was strange.
Then Kouga bit Shino's finger and ate the bug, and Kiba started freaking out a little.
000
000
Later in the same year, Hinata decided to leave Konoha for a two year training at a well-known temple somewhere in the Grass Country where they trained strong Kunoichi. While much stronger than she was in her younger years, the fact that she was the last of the group to become a Jounin bothered her. She didn't want to leave her friends, especially Naruto, whom she still loved after all those years, but she truly wanted to become stronger for everyone's sake and as the heir to the Hyuuga clan.
000
000
Shikamaru found himself fidgeting like mad in the narrow hallway of the hospital. It didn't help that Ino's father was standing in front of him, just as nervous. Inoichi had almost strangled the young man when he had learned Ino was pregnant. It took some convincing from Ino's mother to let him live. Shikamaru's own father was there too, but he seemed patient enough.
" Calm down, Shikamaru!" his mom who was sitting beside him said, more as an order than an advice. " You won't have any fingernails left if you won't stop biting them."
Ino's mom was in the room with her daughter who was now in labor. Shikamaru had been mentally preparing himself for this day for months, but even so, he was unable to stay by Ino's side, fearing he might faint. He was becoming a dad today. If Kiba and Shino could handle it, he should too. Thank God he wasn't the first in the gang to have a child! Having a child should be no problem. He could handle it. How troublesome could one single baby be?"
" Congratulations! They're twins."
Crap.
000
000
While Kiba was still crying over the loss of Kouga's mother, Chouji was crying over his lack of girlfriend. His teenage crush on Ino had been broken when Shikamaru announced they were together, and while he had more love interests later, none of them were ever interested in him.
" You're a kind guy, Chouji," Shikamaru would say. " Someone who's just right for you will surely come up eventually."
Eventually was taking such a long time! There he was, 24 years old, never had a girlfriend. How sad.
000
000
Speaking of sad, Lee was experiencing a recent break up, and was taking it pretty bad. Sakura had politely turned him down for the last time long ago. When he had finally found a girl that liked him, things went wrong. She truly wanted children of her own, but all attempts failed. After taking the proper tests, they found out that Lee was the cause of the problem. A physical defect was keeping him from producing children. His girlfriend left him because he couldn't make her dream come true.
Lee was devastated. Tenten felt sorry for him. The poor guy had not been gifted by nature in terms of looks, he was unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, and now even his sperm was no good. Depression did not fit Lee, and him being alone had to be avoided. So Tenten had told him he could stay over as long as he needed until he 'recovered'.
Lee's recovery was starting to take an awfully long time. Three months after the break up, he was still squatting Tenten's apartment half of the time, sometimes even spending the night there in her guest room. At least while he was at her place, he did all of Tenten's chores as thanks to her kindness, so the girl did not mind him being there. Her company seemed to cheer him up, and Tenten was willing to overlook the lack of intimacy for her friend's sake.
000
000
Tenten sat in her bed, reading a book by the dim light of her bedside, when someone came in casually. She didn't even look up from her book as the visitor placed his forehead protector on the bedside and sat on the edge of the bed, pulling off his shirt.
" Was Lee here today?" he asked as he settled under the covers.
" Yeah. He left not too long ago."
Now, if Lee was at Tenten's place half of the time, Neji was there the other half. Unlike Lee, however, he had a spare key and did not have to use the guest room. As a squad leader, he was often away on missions, but he came back to her apartment more often than not. Although he had extra clothes there, a toothbrush and other personal items, Neji was not officially living with her. About three nights out of seven, he slept at his home in the Hyuuga compound, for the sake of appearances and because certain clan obligations bound him there. Those of the Hyuuga clan who were paying attention to his coming and going suspected he had a secret girlfriend where he spent most of his nights, but only Neji's close friends knew that he was with Tenten.
Sometimes he'd come in the middle of the night after a mission and silently slipped in bed beside her sleeping form, and sometimes he'd be gone when she would wake up. Still, he'd find the time to be together with her when it mattered.
Tenten finally put down her book and turned to Neji.
" I saw Ino's twins the other day. They're so sweet."
" Yeah."
The young woman scooted closer and nuzzled his neck. Neji knew where this conversation would lead.
" Wouldn't you like us to have kids as well?"
"...no."
Tenten jerked back.
" Why not? You don't want me as the mother of your child?"
Neji sighed.
" That's not it."
" Are you scared or something?"
" Tenten, I'm from the Hyuuga branch family. Any child of mine would be born into the branch as well and receive the curse mark. I don't want that."
Tenten couldn't help glancing at the blue mark on her boyfriend's forehead as he said that. Right. That stupid mark. Neji's status never bothered her before, but she had to admit she didn't want her child to receive that dreaded curse and be binded by it forever.
" Isn't there some way to..."
" No," he cut her off. " There is no way."
Tenten felt sad and was silent. Damn Hyuuga Clan. Not only was it keeping Neji from fully living with her, it was also keeping her from having a child that wouldn't have to risk his or her life to protect their bloodline limit. All for the sake of those pretty white eyes.
" But..." she tried, " I'm not a Hyuuga. Therefore, there's a 50 percent chance the child will inherit my eyes, right?"
" That's not a gamble I'm willing to make," Neji responded almost harshly.
" There's a one out of two chance that it won't have the Hyuuga's eyes. Even if it does, we'll figure something out!"
" Tenten..."
He was ready to argue when she climbed on top of him and pinned his shoulders down.
" Neji. It'll work out. Please. "
The man stared at her determined face intently, all kinds of scenarios running through his head. Then he brought a hand behind her head and kissed her.
" Let's see what happens."
Tenten beamed and threw herself at Neji. They kissed some more as the girl ran her hand softly along the man's torso.
Neji pulled back and gave his girlfriend a skeptical look.
" Do you really want my child or do you just want me to make love to you?"
Tenten smiled mischievously.
" I want both."
Kyaaa that was the prologue! Chapter one is already up so please read it now before making up your mind about this story!
