Illegitimate Love
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.
Chapter 9
"...So, Hanabi-chan," Naruto started, awkwardly picking at his plate of sashimi. Shortly after the girl's proclamation that she needed to speak with him, the two shinobi had relocated to a sushi restaurant a few blocks away. He didn't quite understand how it had turned out like this, but somehow, the younger Hyuuga didn't seem like the type to take 'no' for an answer.
"Hanabi-san is fine." The blond winced slightly at her response. She probably hadn't meant it in an insulting way, but it was scathing nonetheless.
"Right, Hanabi-san. What did you want to see me about?" With a grace only seen by members of the Hyuuga clan, the thirteen year old gingerly placed her chopsticks on her plate and used her napkin to lightly dab at the corners of her mouth.
"It is about onee-sama." She paused as if waiting for him to say something, and when he didn't, she continued. "I wish for you to stop seeing her." Naruto stared at her in disbelief, waiting for the girl to laugh -- or at least crack a smile. When she didn't, he leaned forward a little in his seat.
"What?" A brief look of annoyance passed over her face.
"I wish for you to stop seeing my onee-sama." Her dull, violet eyes bore into his with what he assumed to be impatience. Despite his best efforts, he just couldn't understand what she was trying to say. Did she think they were dating or something?
"I'm not sure I follow. Hinata-chan and I aren't going out or anything." If it was even possible, the genin's eyes glared harder into his.
"So you're just screwing her on the side, then?" Unfortunately for him, Naruto had just chosen that moment to take a swig from his glass of tea. He choked and sputtered on the liquid, unable to believe the words that had come out of the Hyuuga's mouth.
"W-what?! No! No way! Me and Hinata-chan?!" For the first time since they'd met, Hanabi looked confused. She was certain they had been sleeping together, but the shocked look on his face told her otherwise.
"You two aren't having sex?"
"That's what I've been saying! No!" He was glad that they'd chosen a table in the very back of the nearly empty restaurant; this conversation would be incredibly awkward if there were a lot of other people around. Save for an old, brown-haired woman and what looked like a drunken young chuunin, they were alone in the sushi hut. Still, the girl narrowed her eyes angrily, giving him the infamous Hyuuga glare.
"You're lying. If you don't love her, return my onee-sama to me at once." Already tired of the argument, Naruto leaned back and groaned, running a tired hand over his face. Was he this stubborn when he was a kid?
"I'm not! Look, Hinata-chan's just been helping me out lately, that's all. I swear!" He could literally see understanding begin to pour into Hanabi's face, and sighing on the inside, he was glad that she seemed to be getting it.
"But...she suddenly left home a few months ago, and when I finally found her again, she was just leaving your apartment. I assumed that she was living with you." At this bit of information, the blond's eyebrows shot up into his forehead. Something wasn't adding up here.
"Wait, don't you know that Hinata-chan's been staying at Tenten's place to help her with the pregnancy?" That was it. Activating her Byakugan, Hanabi banged her fist on the table and stood up, face twisted in obvious rage.
"Stop fucking with me! Do you have any idea how serious this is?! If anyone else finds out that the Hyuuga heiress has been screwing around with the likes of you, the clan's reputation will be ruined! I'm trying to give you a chance to back out now before my father and everyone else finds out!" The ANBU officer blinked in surprise at the outburst. He didn't even think the Hyuuga knew any curse words, let alone used them.
"Like I said, I'm not lying! If you don't believe me, why don't you go to Tenten's apartment and see for yourself?!" She glared into his eyes for a few tense seconds, just waiting for him to avert his gaze or give some kind of sign that he was deceiving her. The Hyuuga were masters at reading a person by their body movements alone, but the blond in front of her radiated nothing but honesty. Either he was extremely good at hiding his intentions, or he was telling the truth. She sat down in her chair with a loud sigh, holding her forehead in her hands.
"You're really telling the truth, aren't you?" Naruto grunted annoyedly, rolling his eyes as if saying 'duh.' Hanabi lifted her head with a frown. "I...I can't believe Tenten agreed to it, though. I thought she'd be petrified of onee-sama after what happened." The young man narrowed his eyes. This was new. He hadn't heard anything about problems between the two until now.
"Petrified? Hanabi, what exactly happened between Hinata-chan and Tenten?" The girl let loose another sigh, once again dropping her eyes to the table in front of her. There was really no easy way to say this without painting her sister in a bad light.
"Onee-sama...said some things to Tenten-san after she heard about the pregnancy," she started, idly stirring her now lukewarm tea with her spoon. Naruto's gaze hardened.
"What kinds of things?" For some reason, she felt mildly intimidated by his stare. The only person who had even dared to look at her like that was her father, and seeing it come from someone else was somewhat frightening.
"I have to go now." She didn't have to look up at him to know that he was glaring intently at her. Even if his anger wasn't directed at herself, she still felt a little bit of fear in the bottom of her stomach. The genin stood to her feet and grabbed her purse, placing a few bills on the table. Just as she was about to leave, Naruto grabbed her tiny wrist in his much larger hand.
"What kinds of things?" he repeated, voice much more dangerous than it had been before. Both ninjas' eyes stared into the others. Hanabi attempted to rip her arm from his grasp, but found that the blond was much stronger than he looked at first glance.
"Let me go. You're hurting me." Frowning, he loosened his grip on her wrist. She stepped back and rubbed at the slightly sore appendage, glaring daggers at him the entire time.
"Sorry," he muttered, a forlorn look appearing on his face, "It's just that...this whole pregnancy thing has got me so confused, and now that I finally have a lead as to what's going on, I don't want to let it go." The girl snorted in disbelief, regaining a bit of her confidence now that she had managed to put some distance between them.
"What, did you think that having a baby would be easy? That as long as you kept smiling and tried your best, everything would turn out fine?" She spat, disdain apparent in every syllable. He lowered his eyes to the ground and shrugged, unable to answer her question. To be honest, he hadn't known what to expect.
The only other pregnant woman he'd ever known had been Kurenai, and Shikamaru had been extremely tight-lipped about things during her pregnancy. However, the tired and annoyed expression constantly marring his friend's face should have told him something.
The lost puppy dog look on his face made her wince. As much as she wanted to hate the blond for having the gall to touch her, she couldn't. There was something about him that made her want to just hug him tightly and tell him that everything would be all right. Hanabi blinked at this strange train of thought. Was this the infamous "power" she'd heard so much about?
Sighing loudly, she realized that she really couldn't leave him alone. Even if he himself didn't know it yet, the idiot really did care for Tenten; so much so that it was starting to make her jealous, and she didn't even like the guy! Turning her back on the ANBU officer, she clutched her purse tighter in her tiny hand.
"Anyway, just get onee-sama away from Tenten. I have a feeling that once that happens, everything will turn out all right." Naruto snapped his head up in surprise. Was she...helping him? " And...don't tell onee-sama that I told you about this. I don't want her to hate me." The blond smiled and walked over to the younger girl. She stood shocked as he lightly rubbed her on top of the head, much like an older brother would do to his younger sister.
"Thank you, Hanabi-chan." She watched him go with a steadily growing blush, marveling at how good the simple action had felt. She could now understand a little of why her sister had fallen in love with such an idiot.
oooooooooooooooooooooooo
The people below him were a blur as he jumped through the rooftops at top speed, using every ounce of his remaining energy to get to Tenten's apartment as fast as he could. He hadn't even thought about placing one of his seals near her home, but he swore to himself that it'd be the first thing he did once he got a chance.
Cursing under his breath, he used the shunshin no jutsu to teleport himself a few dozen yards closer to his destination. His chakra was a bit low, but it was well worth it. He reached her apartment building in seconds, and after waiting another few seconds to catch his breath, he bolted up the stairs at top speed.
He didn't quite understand why he was rushing; if nothing had happened in the few months that Hinata had been living with them, there was a very small chance that something would happen now. It wasn't as if she'd suddenly try to kill Tenten or anything. Even if they were fighting, Hinata would never take it that far.
He knocked on her door in anxiousness, banging a little louder on the flimsy wooden entrance than he'd intended. Though he'd discerned that nothing would happen, he still felt a bit on edge for some reason; his instincts were rarely wrong, but in this case, they had to be. Naruto knocked on the door again, growing more and more impatient with each passing second.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" he heard a muffled voice call from inside the apartment. The sound of three locks opening reached his ears, and when the door finally opened, he stared down into the shocked eyes of Tenten.
Neither one of them moved for all of ten seconds, both of them just staring at each other in a mixture of surprise and relief. Naruto's eyes slowly trailed downwards until they landed on her engorged stomach.
"He's gotten bigger," he remarked, noticing the bulge in her t-shirt. The jounin shook her head and rubbed her stomach, grunting at his statement.
"No, she's gotten bigger." The blond laughed out loud, in turn causing Tenten to do the same. Just as quickly as she had started, the brunette stopped laughing once she realized exactly what she was doing. Narrowing her eyes, she placed her hand back on the doorknob and glared up at him. It was annoying how easily he'd managed to lower her defenses. Her frown deepened. She resolved not to let him sweet talk his way back into her bed like he wanted. "What do you want? I told you you're not welcome here." Rather than retort like she expected, he stepped forward and enveloped her in a tight hug, inadvertently pulling her off of her feet.
"I missed you." Both teenagers were shocked by his words. Tenten because she hadn't expected him to say them so bluntly, and Naruto because he hadn't expected to say them at all.
His original purpose had been to make Hinata leave, but once he'd laid eyes on the girl, he hadn't been able to keep his true feelings from coming out. Before he could get too comfortable, she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away. To his surprise, tears were beginning to build up in the corners of her eyes, and she glared up at him with as much hatred as she could muster.
"Am I just supposed to hug you back and forget about the fact that you abandoned me again?! Tell you that everything's forgiven just because you came back?! Stop screwing around! If you don't have anything else to say, leave!" Naruto stared down at her with a small smile, pissing her off even more than she thought possible. "You think I'm joking?! Go away!"
"Is Hinata-chan here?" Largely taken aback by his question, Tenten glanced up to see that although the smile still remained on his face, his eyes had taken on a deathly serious look. She slowly nodded her head, unsure as to exactly what he wanted. He surprised her again by brushing past her and walking into her apartment, presumably in search of the Hyuuga.
"Hey! What are you doing?! Didn't I just tell you to leave?! Hey!" Unfortunately, her shouts fell on deaf ears. He walked into her bedroom and looked around, eyes scanning every corner of the room. When he didn't find Hinata, he turned around and headed towards the bathroom. On his way there, Tenten grabbed him roughly by the sleeve and attempted to pull him back towards the front door, only to be dragged along by the much stronger ANBU officer. "Naruto! Don't you hear me?! Get out!"
"Hinata-chan, are you in there?" Silence met his question, and after waiting another few seconds, he walked over to the last remaining room.
"Goddamnit, Naruto! Listen to me!" As if hearing her for the first time, he stopped and looked down at the heavily breathing girl. Sweat beaded her forehead from exertion, and her cheeks were flushed a light red with what he assumed to be anger.
"Tenten, you shouldn't be moving around so much. You're pregnant, you know." The jounin's jaw dropped open.
"Just whose fault do you think it is that I'm moving around at all?! What the hell do you want, anyway?!" Naruto sighed. Why was she being so difficult? He didn't remember Tenten being nearly this annoying before. "Well?!"
"Just trust me." The words were simple, but she couldn't think of any reason not to believe him. His eyes radiated nothing but sincerity; a fact that was both comforting and infuriating at the same time.
Rather than answer, she slowly released his arm, allowing him to continue on towards the kitchen. Unsurprisingly, Hinata stood in front of the stove, stirring what looked like a pot of soup.
"Hinata-chan." The girl jumped in surprise, simultaneously turning to look at him. When she saw who it was, her face gradually relaxed into a smile, and she reached around behind herself to untie her apron.
"Naruto-kun! What are you doing here? I told you to leave everything to me." Her voice was neither angry nor overly surprised, causing the blond to blink a few times in unsureness. Despite what he'd been told by Hanabi, Hinata just didn't seem like the type to intentionally deceive anyone.
If he thought about it, however, the way Tenten had been acting suddenly made a lot of sense; too much sense to disregard. He deeply cared for the Hyuuga, but in this situation, the mother of his baby would have to come first.
"Hinata-chan, can you do me a favor?" She tilted her head in curiosity, her smile widening just a little.
"Sure, what is it?"
"I want you to go home." Her smile froze. She slowly brought her hands down to her sides, apron still hanging loosely around her waist.
"Oh...okay. Well, I'll come back tomorrow and --"
"Hinata-chan." The girl's eyes slowly began to moisten, and she took a desperate step towards the blond.
"But...why?! What did I do?! I'm only trying to help!" Even as she pleaded with him, his expression didn't change.
"Please leave. At least for now." Large tears rolled down her cheeks, dripping off of her chin onto the cloth tied around her midsection. She lowered her head and took slow, mournful steps towards the kitchen's exit, loosening the apron enough so that it could fall to the floor on its own.
The blond watched her leave with barely contained sorrow. He absolutely hated himself for being so cruel towards one of his better friends, and promised to make it up to her in another way. What she'd said couldn't have been bad enough to deserve this, but at the same time, it was obviously enough to constantly put Tenten on edge. Although he didn't want to, it was something that had to be done.
As she left the large room, Tenten stood up from her seat on the couch in surprise.
"What's going on?" she asked, eyebrows furrowed in concern, "Are you going somewhere?" The glare that Hinata sent her almost caused the brunette to gasp out in fear. Hatred seemed to literally pour from her eyes, smothering the entire room in a swirl of loathing and anger. It was the same exact look she'd seen on the Hyuuga's face when she'd tried to kill her all those months ago.
She stood paralyized, eyes wide and fingers clenched in an effort to calm down. Whatever had happened between the two in kitchen, Hinata obviously thought that it was her fault. The smaller girl slowly walked through the already open door of her apartment, only to have it closed behind her by a mentally torn Naruto. Judging by his demeanor, he clearly hadn't noticed the glare.
"What the hell did you do?!" Tenten shrieked, eyes still wide with fear. "This is why I wanted you to leave! Every time you show up something worse happens! If you'd have just minded your own goddamn business, then --"
"Why didn't you tell me you were afraid of Hinata-chan." The jounin's voice died in her throat. The small smile he'd had on his face since he'd arrive was long gone, instead being replaced by a dangerously angry frown. How had he found out? There was no possible way that Hinata would ever reveal their fight, and the only people who were around at the time were Hinata, the guards, and...
...Hanabi.
If she thought about it, the young Hyuuga had to be the one to tell Naruto. She was certain that Hinata hadn't told her younger sister about coming to 'help' with the pregnancy, and knowing how much the genin admired her older sister, she'd eventually try to find out where she was staying. It made perfect sense.
"Don't try to act like you care now." The ANBU officer's eyes glared into hers, and he slowly began to walk in direction.
"Don't try to act like I care?! I do care, but you're the one pushing me away! Every time I try to help or look out for you, you either insist that you're alright or tell me to leave! I can't understand you!" Tenten almost laughed in disbelief. Where the fuck did he get off yelling at her like it was her fault?
"Oh, and I suppose I'm the one who told you to leave me standing alone in the park like an idiot, crying my eyes out because you decided that you didn't want any part of your baby!" Naruto's eyes wavered slightly, and he stopped momentarily to gaze at her.
"That was different." The jounin turned to face him, eyes emblazoned with rage.
"How? How is it different? Is it different because you say it is? What kind of bullshit logic is that?!"
"Stop trying to change the subject. I asked you why you didn't tell me about Hinata."
"I don't have to tell you anything. Just leave like you always do when things get tough." Tenten felt her heart jump when he began to approach her again, and she slowly backed up towards her room. "Stop it!"
She threw a punch towards his face, but to her surprise, he easily caught it without so much as a flinch. Before she could use her other hand, he also grabbed that one and shoved her against her room door, holding both of arms above her head using only one of his hands.
"Let me go!" She struggled against his grasp with all of her might, even going as far as using her legs to kick him. To counter this, Naruto pushed her closer against the door using his own body, effectively stopping all of her attacks.
"Why are you being so difficult?! Why can't you just answer one fucking question?!" Rather than answer, she bucked her body against his in an attempt to free herself, fighting against him with her last bit of remaining energy. She hated how helpless she felt underneath him; was this the result of not training for a few months, or was he always this much stronger than her? She paused momentarily to catch her breath, glaring into his eyes with as much hatred as she could muster.
To her complete surprise, the angry look on his face was gone. In it's place was an inexplicably blank one, and she noticed with a small amount of fear that he was beginning to look at her strangely.
"What?!" she spat, flinching a little as his eyes wandered over her face. She suddenly felt naked under his gaze, growing more and more uncomfortable with each passing second. Her eyes popped open in shock when he lowered his face towards hers and captured her lips in a rough, forceful kiss.
She screamed desperately into his mouth, but her cries were easily deafened by the presence of his lips. She struggled viciously against him for another few seconds, but she eventually quieted down and allowed him to kiss her, feeling tears begin to streak down her cheeks from the simple action. When he finally pulled away for a breath of air, she immediately began to break down into small sobs.
"I hate you," she simpered, lips still tingling and trembling from the kiss. Naruto looked down at her with that strange, blank gaze, panting just as hard as she was.
"I hate you too." He didn't quite understand why he'd done it himself. He'd been furious with her only a few minutes before, but then he'd made the mistake of allowing his eyes to wander over her body.
After noticing the powerful heaving of her chest and the deep red blush adorning her cheeks from all of the yelling, he hadn't been able to help himself. It also didn't help that she had her lightly curled hair hanging loosely around her shoulders, frazzled by their brief physical encounter. He hated that power she had over him -- the power to overload every one of his senses without even trying.
Their eyes met again, and despite her intense anger towards the blond, she couldn't help but want him to kiss her for a second time. Her wish was rewarded when he gently brushed his lips against hers, sending sparks all throughout her body. It was horribly, incredibly, inconceivably annoying how easily he could calm her nerves and redirect her anger, but at that moment, she didn't give a damn. Although she wouldn't admit it, she'd missed him just as much -- if not more -- than he'd missed her.
He gradually began to relax his grip on her arms, allowing her to drop and wrap them around his neck. She instantly took the chance to deepen the kiss, standing up on her toes and licking at his lips with her tongue. She moaned in pleasant surprise when he grabbed her around the hips and hoisted her up onto his waist, using the door behind her to brace them.
Naruto quickly became bored with simple kissing and broke the lip lock, deciding to attack the area between her ear and collarbone with his teeth and lips. Tenten sighed and cooed from his ministrations, tilting her head to the right to give him better access. He'd never done this to her before; or rather, she should say she didn't remember him doing this. His lips suddenly latched onto an especially sensitive part of her neck, and she squealed loudly when he began to suck on the smooth skin. Screw what he was doing before; this was ten times better.
She moaned in disappointment when he suddenly stopped, but her disgruntlement was quickly turned into joy when she felt his hands slide up the front of her shirt, cupping what he could of her now larger breasts in his hands. The teenager seemed to notice this as he glanced into her eyes with surprise.
"Are they...bigger?" he asked, eyebrows shooting into his forehead. Tenten only grinned and shrugged, idly rolling her hips against the thing pressing against her.
"Why don't you see for yourself." Naruto didn't have to be told twice. He easily lifted her off of the wall and made a beeline towards her couch, eagerly placing her on the slightly worn cushions. His hands immediately got to work pulling the t-shirt over her head, and just as he'd thought, her breasts were encased in a bra at least one size larger than it had been before. The jounin watched him gawk with an amused smile. It was almost cute how easily infatuated he was with her now larger assets. "Well?" she asked, fighting down her nervousness as best she could.
She was curious as to what he'd do with them first, but to her absolute shock, he bypassed them altogether and leaned her back on the chair. Hovering over her with a menacing smirk, he slipped his hand into her loose pants and went straight for her panties. No wonder he was the number one most surprising ninja.
A groan escaped her throat as he began to touch her, slipping a few fingers into her already moist vagina. He expertly toyed with her pussy, easing his fingers in and out at just the right pace -- slow enough for her to enjoy it, but fast enough for her orgasm to build up over time. It was strange for him to be so eager about having sex, but not at all unpleasant. Her eyes suddenly narrowed as she realized something important, and pushing him away, her dark brown eyes glared into his.
"You're a little too good at this. You weren't screwing some slut while you were gone, were you?" If it wasn't for the fact that the question had literally come out of nowhere, he might've laughed. Instead, he leaned in again and placed a small peck on her lips, smirking when her eyes briefly closed to savor the kiss.
"Trust me, there's no way I'd be able to handle another woman. You're trouble enough." A smile lit up her face, inadvertently endearing herself to the blond even more. He didn't know why it had taken so long to notice, but now that he looked at her, Tenten really was beautiful. He couldn't find a single thing wrong with her physically; her eyes were bright, her smile was enlightening, her body was in perfect shape (though with a small bulge due to the baby), and her forehead was exactly the right size.
For the first time since they'd met, he actually considered the idea of spending the rest of his life with her.
"Naruto?" The teenager shook his head, looking down at the slightly concerned brunette. "Are you alright? You kind of zoned out on me." He grinned mischievously and began to work on the girl once again, instantly eliciting another moan from her lips.
"You should worry about yourself first." It positively amazed her how quickly things had turned around. They'd gone from fighting to fucking in approximately fifteen minutes, allowing their lust to take reign over the majority of their brains. Not that she particularly minded. Sure, she'd broken her resolve, but she'd tried! It wasn't her fault that Naruto didn't know when to give up, right?
It was quite possible that they'd once again be at each other's throats once their sexual appetite was satiated, but somehow, she doubted it. Although they weren't using words, they were communicating on a much deeper level than either of them could ever comprehend. Her last coherent thought was that whoever had come up with the famous words 'Make love, not war' was a fuckin' genius.
ooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Tenten, you ready to go?" Naruto called, slipping on his ninja sandals. He fidgeted impatiently from his place in front of her front door, already wanting to go.
Almost a month had passed since he'd asked Hinata to leave, and during that time, Tenten's stomach had grown exponentially. The brunette had joked that it was because of all the semen he'd pumped into her over the last thirty days, but both knew that it was impossible to hide the pregnancy any longer. After all, she was already nearing the end of her fifth month.
Together with the Hokage, the three of them had managed to coordinate a time to break the news to all of their friends at once. The woman had been nice enough not to assign missions to those on the guest list, and she'd even rented out a nice restaurant near the Hokage Tower. Ironically, it was the same exact restaurant they'd eaten at a few months ago with Sasuke and Sakura.
A small smirk appeared on his face as he recalled the memory. Their friends had been thoroughly shocked; and that was an understatement. If he remembered correctly, Shizune had fainted, Kiba had choked on his own drink, and Shikamaru'd nearly swallowed his cigarette. Unfortunately, his mirth only lasted for a few seconds; he and Tenten were immediately bombarded with shouts and questions, most of them asking about how they could be so stupid.
It'd taken well over an hour, but with help from the Hokage, they'd been able to calm everyone down enough so that they could properly explain the situation. Their friends still weren't happy with what had happened, but they were at least supportive. In fact, once they'd heard how everything had happened, the girls (minus Hinata, who hadn't shown up) had swarmed the weapons mistress with plans for baby showers and shopping for baby clothes.
The guys, unfortunately, were a little less understanding. Sasuke, Chouji, Sai, Kakashi, and Jiraiya were the only ones who hadn't been overly upset by the news. He could sort of understand why most of the males were angry, but Shikamaru's anger had literally blind sided him. According to the strategist himself, he was disappointed that Naruto hadn't come to him for help. They were friends after all, and having been through a particularly tough pregnancy with Kurenai, the jounin could have given him an ample amount of advice on what to expect.
All in all, though, things had turned out much better than they'd hoped.
Tenten slowly walked out of her bedroom, holding a hand over her enlarged stomach. She wore a tight-fitting, dark, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of dark pants, not bothering to hide her pregnant appearance anymore. Now that their friends knew, there really was no point; everyone else would find out eventually, either from word of mouth or simply by seeing her walking down the street. Smiling, Naruto reached an arm out and wrapped her in a one-armed hug.
"You look beautiful." Tenten scowled up at him.
"You're just saying that." His grin widening, he nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.
"True." She playfully swung her purse at him, pouting when he managed to maneuver just out of reach of the leather bag. "But I also mean it." The serious look in his eyes caused her to blush, and she shyly averted her gaze towards her feet.
"You'd think I'd be used to your corny lines by now," she mumbled, slipping on her sandals. Standing up, she coughed lightly before looping her arm through his and walking out the door.
As they walked arm in arm down the street, they received dozens upon dozens of shocked and curious looks from civilians and shinobi alike, every single one of them unable to believe what they were seeing. Tenten, the famous weapons mistress of Konoha, was pregnant.
Those who knew of her track record with kids and small animals alike shuddered in pity for the poor soul that would be born into the world as her child, and others were simply surprised that someone had actually managed to get close enough to the girl to impregnate her.
It was no secret to anyone that getting a date with the kunoichi was next to impossible. Hell, you'd have a better chance of escaping from Orochimaru with your anal virginity intact than to even get a cup of tea with the usually dead serious jounin. Not one person among the crowd could figure out how the two had managed to hook up, let alone have a baby. No matter how they looked at it, Naruto and Tenten didn't match at all.
They were both pleased to see that there weren't nearly as many angry or appalled stares as they'd expected, and those that did glare at them were either old buzzards stuck in the past or teenagers around their age who'd had a crush on one or both of them.
Despite the wide variety of opinions, they could all agree on one thing; whatever baby they produced would be the scariest motherfucker who ever lived.
"So, were you worried about what everyone would say once they found out about us?" she joked, gripping his arm tighter against her chest. Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head in a way she'd inadvertently become accustomed to.
"To be honest, I was more worried about myself than anyone else." Tenten laughed again, finding the pained look on his face absolutely hilarious.
"What, just because the Hokage beat you up last time? That's only one person, and I promised that I'd protect you from Sakura. If worse came to worse, you could have used me as a human meat shield." The blond lifted an eyebrow at the girl walking by his side.
"I don't know whether to be amused or worried that you'd actually hop in the way of Sakura-chan's fist. That's like asking for an instant abortion." The kunoichi laughed harder. If there was one thing she could say about their strange relationship, it was that it was never boring.
With Hinata out of the picture, the two of them had finally been able to work through most of their issues starting from the first night of drunken sex. It had taken nearly an entire week of talking, arguing, and admittedly sex, but they'd both realized that most of their problems had been simple misunderstandings.
The only thing that bugged Naruto was that she still wouldn't tell him exactly what the Hyuuga had said to her to make her so afraid, claiming that it was something she wasn't yet ready to discuss. Still, they'd both been pleasantly surprised to learn that they had much more in common than they'd originally thought.
"Isn't the house around here?" Naruto asked, looking around at the surrounding scenery. It was a fairly unpopulated area on the outskirts of the village, surrounded by droves of trees and tall grass. As far as he could see, there were only four houses in the wooded clearing; all of which looked dilapitated and abandoned. Tenten reached into her purse and produced a small slip of paper, glancing over it before pointing towards the house a few dozen feet away.
"It's that one! She said it'd be the house with the apple tree in the front yard." Following her finger, the blond's face dropped. While he hadn't been expecting much in the first place, the house that stood before them was simply hideous. The paint was nearly gone, the yard was unkempt, the apple tree was half dead, and the place looked like it could fall apart at any moment. He turned his disappointed gaze on the excited girl to his left.
"Ne, Tenten. Are you stupid?" The brunette puffed out her cheeks, turning her dark brown eyes on him in obvious annoyance.
"Shut up! Real estate in Konoha isn't cheap you know, and this is the only place in the village we could buy without a loan!"
"...Why don't we just take out a loan, then? Couldn't we get a better place if we did that? Besides, this whole neighborhood is abandoned! Did you ever think that it was empty for a reason?"
"No! A loan would just add to our financial problems, and after doing some math, I realized that we'd barely have enough money left over every month for the bare necessities -- let alone a child." The blond still looked unconvinced, so she poked out her lip and widened her eyes in an attempt to win him over another way. "Please? Let's just look at the inside first, and if you still don't like it, I promise we can go somewhere else."
Naruto frowned down at her. Was she really trying to use cuteness to get her way? Tenten was a lot of things -- gorgeous, sexy, strong -- but cute wasn't one of them. Still, he rolled his eyes and began to walk towards the house. He'd let her think she won this time.
"Fine." The jounin's face lit up, and she grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the broken down house. They reached the front door in a matter of seconds, after knocking a few times on the front door, Tenten slowly turned the knob and opened it.
"Excuse me? Is anyone in here?" she called, poking her head inside the house. No sooner had the words left her mouth did a brown-haired woman pop out from one of the adjacent rooms, causing the girl to blink a little in surprise. She'd barely been able to sense her presence; something that was slightly shameful to her as a shinobi.
"Ah! Uzumaki-san, right?! Come in, come in! You're right on time!" Naruto lifted an eyebrow at the woman's uncanny exuberance. At first glance, the woman didn't seem like the type to have such a cheerful personality. She looked to be in her early thirties judging by the minute wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. A pair of horn-rimmed glasses were perched prominently on her nose, and the simple, dark kimono she wore gave her an air of maturity. In the back of his mind, he wondered if all real estate agents dressed so formally. Somehow, though, he felt as if it was just her.
He stepped into the house and looked around, finding the place to be in much better shape than he'd thought it would be. The wallpaper was dingy with age and mold, but if the walls were solid enough, they could easily either paint over or remove the paper altogether. A simple, dark wood stairway leading to the second floor rested in the corner, and two doors were embedded into the opposite wall.
"I'm Kimiko, your real estate agent! Hokage-sama says you're looking for a place to buy, and there's no better place than here! This way, this way! I'll show you around the house!" The real estate agent seemed to literally bounce towards the door, and shooting each other unsure glances, the shinobi followed her into the next room.
"Here's the kitchen! It's really, really dirty right now, but I'm sure you'll have no trouble cleaning it up! It comes with a stove and refridgerator, too, so you can save a bit of money on appliances!" They walked through the kitchen towards the door in front of them. "Through this door is the dining room! It's connected to the living room, and if you go through the door to your left, it'll take you back to the main hallway!"
Tenten's smile was threatening to split her face in half as she was shown the house. Except for the excessive amounts of dust and dirt marring the walls and floors, it looked to be in pretty good shape. Even Naruto had to admit that it was better than what he'd been expecting. After viewing the downstairs bathroom, the couple followed the woman up the small staircase leading to the second floor.
"The second floor is the best part of the house. All three of the bedrooms are located up here, along with another bathroom in the master bedroom," the woman said, opening the door to the largest room. Both shinobi nearly gasped at the size of it. It was bigger than both of their rooms put together; though that wasn't saying much. "It's the perfect size for newlyweds such as yourselves!" The ninja froze.
Newlyweds? Them? They exchanged surprised glances, unable to believe the insinuation of the real estate agent.
"Uh...we're not married," Tenten mumbled, feeling a bit embarrassed by the statement. Kimiko too looked embarrassed, and dipped her head in apology.
"I'm sorry! I just sort of assumed since..." her eyes dropped to the kunoichi's stomach for a split second, immediately revealing her train of thought to the couple. "It's completely my fault! Though I'm sure it doesn't bother you since you're dating with that purpose in mind, right?" Once again, the teens looked at each other. Scratching the back of his head, Naruto put on a small grin.
"We're not really dating, either." This time, the woman looked positively shocked. Rather than say anything else to potentially make things more awkward, she turned to lead them back towards the hallway.
"Ah...well, let's move on, shall we?" Although she was trying to change the subject, the awkwardness among them remained; most of it coming from Naruto and Tenten. The two of them barely spoke for the rest of the tour, only answering with a simple 'yes' or 'no' when asked a question. By the time they'd finished viewing the house, the uncomfortable atmosphere surrounding them had become unbearable, so the real estate agent wisely excused herself claiming that she had another appointment on the other side of the village.
"So...what do you think?" Tenten asked, glancing at the blond from the corner of her eye as they walked back towards the inner part of the village. Naruto shrugged lightly, placing his hands behind his head.
"It's fine with me. Other than it being really dirty, I didn't see much wrong with it." The girl smiled, causing the boy at her side to do the same. He loved her smile. Her real smile, anyway. He'd been lucky enough to see a lot of it recently, and took great pride in knowing that he was the one who put it there. If he had it his way, he'd make her smile forever.
The shinobi blinked at this train of thought. That was the same thing he used to think about Sakura only a few months ago, and his eyes widening even more, he realized that he hadn't been thinking about the medic-nin at all since he and Tenten had started living together again.
Frowning resolutely, he grabbed the surprised brunette's hand and focused on his nearest seal, using the Hiraishin no Jutsu to transport them closer to the village. They bounced from the outskirts to the center of the village, stopping only every second or so to locate the next seal.
"What are you doing?!" she gasped , trying to catch her breath after being pulled around for what seemed like hours. It was her first time experiencing the Hiraishin no Jutsu first hand. She looked around to see that they were on top of the Hokage Monument; more specifically, they were on top of the Fourth's head. Naruto placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her towards him.
"Tenten, will you go out with me?" The girl could only stare up at him. Her eyes were wide, her mouth was open, and her arms hung limp at her sides. Out of all the questions that had run through her head, that was one of the last things she expected him to ask her. Rather than answer, she launched herself at him full force and planted a deep, wet kiss directly onto his lips. "So, I guess that's a yes?" he asked when she pulled away long enough for him to speak. She looked up at him with the most venomous glare she could manage.
"Cheat on me and I'll kill you." Smirking, he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, immediately wiping the angry look from her face.
"I wouldn't dream of it."
AN: Probably a lot of mistakes in here, but I had to post so you all know what's going on c: Hiatus from both stories and the site until further notice :c
