Chapter 37: Shades of Grey
In a forest clearing near the coastline where the Lands of Fire and Water met, two men faced each other in a clearing. Chakra emanations crackled through the air, striking sparks when they met. Both men were vessels, avatars of forces far greater than their physical forms.
The first man was a walking corpse, one that had answered to the name Yahiko prior to his violent death at a young age. Now he was a puppet, controlled by dozens of chakra-channeling rods driven through his body. The puppet master, once a boy named Nagato who had been Yahiko's closest friend, was half a continent away but the power of his rinnegan saturated the clearing. Wrapped in a black cloak with red clouds, he stood unmoving and stared at his opponent.
The other man was the prison of a demon. Long dark hair fell over the left side of his face, obscuring one of his hard brown eyes. His thin, lanky frame was shrouded in a loose blue kimono, open at the chest low enough to display most of his torso, pale skin stretched tight over his ribs. His only weapon was a slender bamboo pipe held loosely by the sash at his waist. His name was Utakata, and he answered to no master save perhaps the six-tailed demon imprisoned within his soul.
Each man had a woman beside him, one who loved him dearly. Beside one-sixth of the entity known as Pein was his wife Konan, shrouded in a cloak to match his. Behind Utakata stood his student and lover, a beautiful young green-eyed blonde named Hotaru. Of the four, she was the only one whose face was not impassive. She was visibly afraid, but her grip on the kunai in her hand didn't waver.
"You know who we are," the man with the rinnegan said the jinchuuriki. It wasn't a question.
"I've heard whispers," the slender shinobi in blue replied quietly. "Rumors fly in the dark corners of the Elemental Nations where missing-nin gather; tales of the Akatsuki, men of great power who hunt jinchuuriki." Utakata paused, a hint of curiosity crossing his face. "But none of the rumors say why."
"Jinchuuriki are weapons of the villages, and the villages have proven irresponsible; your kind are kunai in the hands of children, and as responsible adults we have chosen to take those weapons away," Pein replied. It wasn't the whole truth, but it would suffice for a man who was about to die.
Utakata's eyebrow rose. "Then we have no quarrel. I serve no village, nor do I engage in wanton destruction as the brutes of Iwagakure are notorious for. Mine is a peaceful bijuu; she has no more appetite for killing than I."
"Perhaps you are not a threat," Pein countered, "but what of the day when Kirigakure's hunter-nin catch up with you? Even if you evade them you won't live forever. When you die your demon will be claimed by a village and put back into service as a weapon. That is an outcome I cannot risk."
Utakata spread his hands calmly. "Is there no way we can avoid conflict, then? I have no wish to fight you."
Pein shook his head. "I'm sorry."
Utakata sighed. "I see." He turned his head to regard the blonde at his side. "Hotaru, go back to the last village we visited and wait for me."
Hotaru's fear was plain, but so was her resolve. "I won't leave you," she replied firmly.
"This is not an opponent I can defeat without using Saiken's power," he told her. "I would not see you injured when I do so."
"I'll be careful," she promised.
"Damn it, Hotaru," Utakata growled, frustration showing, "please do as I ask!"
"I can't lose you," she said quietly. "I won't. Not without trying to help."
"Konan," Pein interrupted. "Keep the girl out of the fight. She doesn't need to die today."
"As you wish," Konan replied. Wings formed from countless pieces of origami paper burst from the blue-haired woman's back and she flew forward at incredible speed with a pulse of chakra. Hotaru tried to dodge, but more paper hidden under the field wrapped around her legs, and then Konan hit her wrapping her arms around the girl as the pair careened into the trees.
"You'll let her live?" Utakara inquired.
Pein nodded. "Regardless of the outcome of our battle, Konan will release her unharmed."
"Thank you," the jinchuuriki murmured. Cracking his knuckles, Utakata drew the thin bamboo pipe from his belt sash. "Let's be about this then, if we must."
Hotaru screamed in frustration, pounding her fists against the rock-hard paper that imprisoned her. The horrid blue-haired woman who grabbed her had cocooned her inside an origami shell hours ago. What followed seemed like the end of days. Massive explosions shook the very earth. She could hear the phlegmy roars of Saiken, the hiss of acres of woodland dissolving into vapor, and the horrific noise of wood and rock being torn asunder. She had been bounced around in her paper prison so violently that she eventually hit her head on the side hard enough to lose consciousness. When she woke up everything was quiet and still, yet she remained imprisoned.
Hotaru was starting to fear that she'd be trapped in the paper cocoon and was considering risking a water jutsu in the confined space when the pod cracked open on its own, its constituent squares of paper scattering on the wind. The blonde squinted until her eyes adjusted to the returned light, climbing unsteadily to her feet. When she could see again, Hotaru gasped in shock.
The cocoon had been half-buried in a torn hillside on the edges of a battlefield that spoke of a violence that had wounded the earth itself. Just hours earlier the area had been a verdant forest; now there was no green as far as Hotaru could see. Deep craters pocked the landscape, water collecting in their bottoms. Broken tree trunks were strewn about as though great ocean waves had cast them in all directions. Pink vapors rose from some areas still contaminated with Saiken's acid mist, and those places Hotaru gave a wide berth as she slowly made her way across the battlefield.
Hotaru had walked for perhaps ten minutes when she spotted a flash of yellow and blue at the bottom of one of the craters. Rushing down the side she slipped and was covered in mud by her tumble, but climbed to her feet and continued on. When she reached her objective she stood and stared for a moment before falling to her knees. Tears filled her eyes, and great sobs shook her slender body.
With trembling hands, Hotaru picked up a shredded, bloody piece of a familiar blue kimono and a bamboo pipe that had been broken in half. She clutched the items to her chest as she wept, her cries carrying through the silence of the ravaged land around her, where even birds and insects were now silent.
Concealed a short distance away, Konan watched the young blonde grieve for her lost love, and her heart went out to the girl. Troubled, she walked a short distance away, where Pein waited, sitting on an upturned boulder. The comatose form of Utakata was sprawled at his feet. The jinchuuriki was missing his left arm, the stump cauterized to prevent him from bleeding out.
"It's hard not to feel like we're the villains in this story sometimes," Konan murmured as she drew close to her beloved. "I can imagine only too well what that poor girl feels."
"Our task was simpler when dealing with the jinchuuriki who were easy to hate," Pein agreed. "It will be the same for the next two, from what Sasori tells me. But we have no choice save to continue."
Konan nodded slightly, subdued and plainly still troubled. "You're right. Still, I can't help but have doubts. In another life this man could have been an ally rather than an enemy."
"Only fools never doubt the wisdom of their choices, love," Pein replied. "The price we pay, the price this jinchuuriki pays, will buy a better world for everyone."
Pein climbed to his feet and slung Utakata over his shoulder. He set off to the west, and Konan ran alongside him. "I'm reminded today of what he said when he set the Akatsuki into motion," Pein admitted after long minutes of silence. "Do you?"
Konan nodded thoughtfully. "He said that there would be no place for people like us in the world we would build, and that was how it should be."
The pair continued on in silence, towards their hidden base and the statue waiting to consume the essence of the sixth bijuu.
"How have you been sleeping?" Ino inquired as she walked side by side with Amaya through the streets of Konohagakure.
"Better," Amaya replied. "I haven't woken up during the night in two days." She still had nightmares, but she was coping better. Now when she woke up in a cold sweat from a dream about being blind and pregnant she meditated instead of curling up into a ball and crying. She didn't need a kunai in hand to fall asleep anymore. There was still one under her pillow, but that was just common sense for a kunoichi, not something she clung to for peace of mind.
Ino and Amaya's wandering path lead them through a park, and they watched a pack of rambunctious young boys 'playing ninja' under the watchful eyes of their mothers. At first Amaya had been surprised by how few of her sessions with the Yamanaka heir took place in her office, but she'd gotten used to it, and even appreciated their trips now. Sometimes they just walked. Other times they went shopping, or to a quiet lunch spot. On a few occasions they left the village behind and found a place in the forest to talk. Their last meeting had been a picnic under a shady tree next to a babbling brook.
It hadn't been long before Amaya realized that the familiar settings had done the job of putting her far more at ease than she ever would have been sitting in Ino's office in the ANBU medical building. She'd been spending an afternoon every week with the blonde, and she'd been surprised to discover that after the first month she started to look forward to their meetings.
"What about when you're awake? Have there been any more incidents?" Ino asked.
Amaya grimaced, looking away from the blonde silently for a moment. "Why do you ask me questions when you already know the answers?" Therapy for active duty shinobi wasn't entirely like civilian practice; the therapist received reports from their patient's superiors, so they weren't entirely reliant on the patient for information about their lives.
Ino replied without hesitation. "I ask you because hearing your account is a great deal more useful to me than a form submitted by ANBU's dive master."
Amaya sighed. "Yes, I had another flashback at a bad time." It had been three weeks since Ino had given her leave to resume the physical readiness portion of her ANBU training, though not the combat regimen. So most days Amaya donned a plain white mask and joined other recruits in activities like climbing a sheer cliff one-handed or diving a hundred meters below the surface of a lake and staying down for hours with only a learned affinity for water element chakra to draw oxygen into her lungs.
Sitting on the lake bed wearing a lead vest and focusing on her chakra and breathing, the cold darkness and sense of being utterly alone had triggered something inside Amaya, and suddenly she couldn't breathe at all, couldn't keep molding her chakra into unfamiliar forms, and panic had set in. She probably would have drowned if the dive master hadn't noticed her distress and used his own ninjutsu to form a large air bubble around the two of them.
Of course, that had given him all the time of the long decompression trip to the surface to tear her up one side and down the other. "Disgrace to the uniform" and "Unworthy to polish the boots of a real ANBU" had been among the grizzled trainer's kinder words to Amaya about her loss of control. He'd had her running laps around the village wall until sunrise, but the sense of failure hurt a lot more than the muscle cramps.
"The worst part is he's right," Amaya admitted miserably after recounting the tale to Ino. "I'll never complete the ANBU training if I don't have control of myself, and I can't even say they'd be wrong to kick me out; I'd just be a liability like this."
Amaya was surprised to see Ino smile faintly. "You never do anything by halves, Amaya," the blonde observed.
Amaya blinked. "Huh?"
Ino waved a hand casually. "That's something Tenten told me about you back when you were a genin, and I can see it's still true. You focus in on whatever you do or say and pursue it like a tracker on a scent. Normally that's a good trait; it's driven you to excel."
Amaya had to admit that there was some truth to that. She'd certainly had something to prove from an early age. Children could be cruel, and Uchiha children were no different. Being born into a brothel the daughter of a whore and an Uchiha who disgraced the clan had made her less in the eyes of her peers, and she'd always struggled to move past that black mark in the Academy and beyond. Her grandparents had never spoken ill of her mother and father, but then they never spoke of them much at all.
"What does that have to do with what we were talking about?" Amaya asked.
"Because it makes you stubborn; once you fix on an idea you have a hard time entertaining new perspectives. Like your guilt over what happened to your friend Ken in the Chuunin Exam." Amaya stilled at that mention, because it touched on one of the things that no one, not even Ino, could know; that Ken – or at least a version of him – wasn't dead.
"In the same vein," Ino continued, "First you didn't want to believe you had a problem, and now that you've accepted it, the problem seems bigger to you than it is. We've only been at this a few months, Amaya, and you've made progress. My mother treats civilians with PTSD who take years to recover. All healing takes time, and you're doing better than most."
"I understand," Amaya said quietly. "But I worry that it's not enough. Just because ANBU trainees wear masks doesn't mean we don't learn to recognize each other. They're already starting to look at me differently, trying to figure out why I'm not there for the combat training. Some have asked, and I don't have a good answer for them."
Ino shrugged. "It's good for them; it'll give them time to catch up to you."
Amaya blinked. "Ino, I'm probably the youngest person there."
The blonde nodded. "How many times did Kakashi wound you when you were training?"
Amaya gave Ino a confused look. "Beyond the shoulder, never; it's training."
Ino smiled. "Next time another trainee gives you a hard time about not being there for kenjutsu drills tell them that; that Kakashi's never left you with a scar. They'll back off." When Amaya looked no less bewildered, she elaborated.
"Kakashi trains ANBU to fight the way he was trained during the Third War; if you don't perform up to his expectation he gives you some pain and a trip to the medics as a reminder to do better. If he's never left you bleeding on the floor you're well ahead of most of his trainees." Ino's expression softened. "You will get better. The healing process isn't quick, but you are making good progress."
"I understand," Amaya said. "Maybe I'm just worried about losing my edge being away from training this long."
"Then get back into training," Ino replied simply. "You're only excused from ANBU combat exercises; no one said you couldn't find some sparring partners on your own time." Ino checked the time as they walked past a clock tower at the park's edge and made a face. "I'm due at the prison soon. Anything else you'd like to discuss before I go?"
Amaya shook her head, thinking about what the blonde had said. "No, go ahead." They parted ways, and Amaya decided to head for a training ground where she knew she could find someone to fight.
Amaya could hear the sound of hard impacts between bodies before she actually saw the combatants. Below that was a low murmur of conversation stemming from many voices. When she emerged from an alley into a wide open area between buildings, she had to slip between throngs of people to reach the wide ring of packed clay in the center. The area was used for everything from kids' sports games to group workouts for civilians trying to stay in shape, but for years it had been known as the 'Strong Fist Circle' due to its current occupants.
Most shinobi were by nature somewhat secretive about their abilities. The more people out there who knew you could perform a certain ninjutsu or what taijutsu style you used, the more vulnerable you were. There were exceptions, however, most notably Maito Gai and the students who had adopted his nindo of power through relentless effort and self-improvement.
It had been Gai who had started weekly taijutsu workshops in the circle, and Rock Lee had become a religious attendant after joining his team, first as a student, now as a teacher. The lessons were popular with a wide range of people ranging from civilians interested in self-defense to chuunin and jounin looking to brush up their skills against the village's masters. In the last few months, a new sensei had started attending, and while he didn't dress the same as the Green Beasts of Konohagakure, his skill and unique style had drawn larger audiences of late.
When Amaya reached the front of the crowd, the area was busy. Rock Lee was running a bunch of kids ranging from seven years olds to civilian teenagers through basic katas, while Gai was taking a break and chatting with some other jounin. Most eyes were on Ken, however, and the three men with long brown dreadlocks and identical faces sharing the center ring with him.
'Kano' had become fairly well known in Konohagakure within months of his arrival. Usually a foreign shinobi seeking entry into a village through any path other than an arranged marriage was rigorously evaluated and then admitted as a genin, remaining at that rank for years or even a decade or more before being considered trustworthy enough for advancement.
Ken, however, had earned a measure of trust in rescuing one of the last Uchiha, and his skill had impressed those charged with evaluating him even more. It had been none other than their old sensei Rock Lee who had been called upon to evaluate the new arrival, and watching their match had been illuminating for Amaya. She hadn't been able to see much of Ken's fight with Coru, but in the light of day she bore witness to just how much her old teammate – or at least his doppelganger – had grown.
Ken had matched Lee blow for blow and Gate for Gate, and while Lee had several years of experience on him, Ken had more than matched his former sensei with high-speed ninjutsu interspersed with his taijutsu. When the bout was over he'd been sponsored for entry into Konohagakure's ranks as a chuunin by Maito Gai himself, and there was already talk that he'd be invited to the next jounin exam.
Amaya watched with interest as the Inuzuka triplets circled 'Kano', who waited calmly for their initial assault. She hadn't seen Haruko, Hikaru and Hiroko since returning. They'd all grown, their solidly muscled frames and feral grins in tattooed faces proclaiming their clan. Scanning the area, Amaya spotted only one ninken, Anamaru, a shaggy white dog with dark spots on his coat.
Amaya nodded thoughtfully. The rumors were true then. After recovering from their first Chuunin exam the triplets had decided not to bond with any more ninken, focusing on tandem techniques of their own. She'd heard that they'd crushed the competition in the next year's exam at home in Konohagakure, with two of them making it into the final eight, and all three being promoted.
The fight started suddenly, the triplets moving in eerie synchronicity and attacking from three sides. It was immediately obvious that any direction Ken moved in, he'd be taking at least one hit from a blind spot.
Any horizontal direction, at least; Amaya, who'd had ample opportunity to witness Ken's unique evolution of the Strong Fist, guessed what was coming an instant before it happened. Ken jumped straight up, flipping in midair. For a moment the air above his right foot shimmered, and then he was, impossibly, kicking off of a solid surface. He twisted his body to deliver a spinning left heel straight into Hiroko's chest. The Inuzuka, who wasn't slow or inexperienced, saw the hit coming and turned with it to diminish the impact, but it still landed him on his ass, and Ken was past him in a flash, escaping the triplets' initial gambit.
The spar continued, and if Ken was still outnumbered three to one, he was also more comfortable with the rules of engagement, while the Inuzukas were plainly less comfortable without their more devastating techniques like the Gatsuga, forbidden from such a crowded and public setting for obvious reasons. Ken's style was more mobile than it had been when he was younger, and just as he had avoiding their first attack, Ken continued to utilize abrupt and seemingly impossible changes in direction, bouncing off of invisible surfaces like a pinball.
Ken had explained to Amaya that he'd discovered his affinity for wind elemental chakra as a chuunin in his own version of Konohagakure. Rather than focusing on the medium range cutting attacks that most wind ninjutsu users learned, he'd taken a different path, training to harden the air into solid surfaces around him and enabling his abrupt shifts in momentum.
Once the triplets got a handle on what he was doing they were able to adjust a bit and get closer. They got some hits in, but Ken gave as good as he got despite being outnumbered. The combatants came to a halt several minutes later, and there was some applause and cheering from the spectators.
Ken spotted Amaya among the crowd, and his expression brightened. He wandered over, and the Inuzukas followed. "Amaya! How are you?"
The people around Amaya quieted when they realized that an Uchiha, Konohagakure's most recent endangered species, was among them. Some shrank back, as though the ill fortune that had struck her clan might be contagious. Others gave her pitying looks. Amaya wasn't sure which group she despised more, but she resolutely ignored the lot of them. It was that or yell at them, and she couldn't afford to appear unhinged in public. "I'm fine, Kano," she replied quietly.
"Good, good. I was worried; I haven't seen you in a few days."
Amaya winced, immediately feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, I've just been busy." She'd been the one to bring him from his world to hers, but he'd been fitting in so well she'd forgotten how isolated he must feel keeping the secret from everyone but her.
Ken gave her a searching look and then smiled. "No problem. Are you looking for a workout?"
That had been why she'd come, but the reaction of the people filling the area to her presence had soured her mood. "I did, but… not here. Can we go somewhere less crowded?"
Ken looked around, seeing the reactions of the people in the crowd, and nodded. "Sure. Training Ground 14?"
"Sounds good," Amaya replied. That area was a lightly wooded area near the Nara compound, and off-limits to civilians. Amaya and Ken separated from the crowd, heading east towards the Nara forest. They made it half a block before they registered footsteps behind them and turned to see the Inuzukas and their dog following.
"Mind if we tag along?" Haruko inquired on behalf of his brothers.
Amaya and Ken exchanged a glance and then shrugged. "Sure, if Kano didn't kick your asses enough and you want some more," Amaya told them playfully, earning feral grins in return.
"Big words, little girl," Hikaru shot back.
"Not so little anymore," Hiroko disagreed with his brother. "I'd say Amaya did some growing up in the Land of Lightning." His gaze travelled up her body, starting at her feet, ending at her face and lingering a few places in between. When he finally made eye contact his expression was cocky and faintly lecherous.
Amaya went still. The way he'd looked at her – like an object – was all too familiar, and the scent of male sweat and the proximity of their bodies had her heart hammering and panic clawing at her throat.
No, Amaya thought desperately. I'm not going to break down here in the middle of the street. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down, ignoring the look of concern from Ken who stepped forward, putting himself between her and the Inuzukas. It was that action that galvanized her. I'm not weak. I don't need to be rescued from this. I can handle it.
Amaya's hand was steady when she placed it on Ken's shoulder, reining him in and stepping past him to confront the brothers. The tightness in her throat eased as she put on a disarming smile. Hiroko looked a bit quizzical as she stepped up right in front of him. "That's cute," Amaya replied sweetly. Then she drove a tight fist into his side just below the ribs. The jab sank into his diaphragm and he staggered back with a wheeze. "Look at me in that manner again and I'll fix you like one of your dogs," she growled, eliciting a startled whine from Anamaru. "Now if you want to spar, you're welcome to join us. If you want to fuck around, your kennel's that way," she pointed back at the Inuzuka compound.
From the corner of her eye, Amaya saw Ken calmly assessing if they were going to have a fight on their hands, but she kept her focus on the triplets as Hiroko got his breath back. Haruko and Hikaru exchanged a glance, looked at Hiroko and then back at her. Then both of them started laughing.
"Told you she hadn't changed," Hikaru informed his brother, who grinned sheepishly while massaging his ribs.
"Worth it," Hiroko wheezed. He danced back a step at the stormy look on Amaya's face. "I was messing around, Uchiha. Peace!"
"Whatever," Amaya growled. "Come or don't." She turned and headed for the training ground, Ken at her heels. A moment later she heard the brothers following her.
Facing away from all of them, Amaya allowed herself a pleased smile. For the first time she hadn't just broken down and become useless when the familiar fear hit her. Maybe Ino was right. Maybe it would get better.
Sitting in bed propped up by a small mountain of pillows at her back, Tenten read quietly. Her feet were elevated, supported by more pillows. The bed itself was new, raised up off of the ground more than the futon it had replaced, to make it easier to get in and out of. The weather was warm enough that the servants had opened up the screens separating the room from the gardens, so soft sunlight and warm breeze encroached on the room.
Tenten glanced up from her scroll when the door slid open. Neji entered, a content smile on his face when he looked at her. "You know, I have about a dozen minders already," she observed with a hint of exasperation. "You don't have to keep checking in every hour of the day. I'm sure you have better things to be doing than hovering over me."
"I really don't, love," Neji replied placidly as he sat down on the bedside.
"What about the delegation from the Land of Tea?" Tenten inquired pointedly. "The one the village council is meeting with right now?"
"They're unlikely to have any major business with us, since they renewed the capital's security contract for another three years as of last month," Neji replied easily. "If they do have specific concerns, or if there are any procedural votes in the council this afternoon, Hanabi is more than capable of handling it." Reaching out, he tugged one of her feet into his lap, kneading it firmly with his dexterous fingers.
"Really Neji, I'm just pregnant. That doesn't make me an invalid- ooh, right there," Tenten sighed, giving up on the argument and relaxing as her husband's hands worked their magic. She let her eyes drift shut for a blissful moment, and when she opened them Neji was grinning at her. "Don't think you've won just because you're really good at that."
"Yes dear," Neji said agreeably as he moved to the other foot.
When he was done, Neji moved to sit beside her, laying a hand on her stomach, which already swelled significantly under the soft white cloth of her shirt. "You are the most important thing I can be attending to right now," he told her earnestly. "My father rarely had time to be with my mother during her pregnancy and afterward, and it's something both of them regretted. I don't intend to share that regret."
Tenten smiled wistfully. "You have an irritating habit of always knowing the right thing to say. It makes staying mad at you rather difficult." Then she hooked an arm around his neck and drew him close for a slow, lingering kiss.
"I'm not interrupting, am I?" A mischievous voice inquired from the doorway. "Your attendants said to come right in."
Tenten and Neji parted and looked up to see a scarred, shaven-headed woman with amusement in her jade green eyes. "Sakura!" Tenten exclaimed, blushing faintly.
"No, not at all, come in," Neji added, scooting away from Tenten.
"If you're sure…" Sakura trailed off suggestively. She laughed when Tenten made a face at her before entering into the room. The visit was a routine one, and Sakura checked blood pressure, enzymes and more, often with nothing more than careful application of chakra.
"Should I be this big already?" Tenten inquired at one point as Sakura ran a glowing hand over her bared stomach. She felt like her belly had already grown larger than most other women she'd observed at the beginning of the third trimester.
Sakura shrugged. "Every pregnancy is different. You're well above the average, yes. It's nothing to be concerned about, though. If you were a civilian I've be testing for gestational diabetes, but kunoichi don't suffer from that particular ailment." Tenten nodded thoughtfully. She'd known broadly that those with high chakra levels rarely fell ill and were entirely immune from certain hereditary disorders like heart disease and dementia.
"With your permission, I should probably go ahead and perform a delving as long as I'm here. I've refrained from probing your womb at all out up until now, but the fetus will be formed strongly enough by now for the risk to be gone."
"Of course," Tenten replied.
"Okay. Hold still." Sakura placed both hands on the sides of Tenten's swollen stomach, and let her jade eyes drift shut. Tenten could feel feather-light movements of chakra through her body. It lasted for several minutes before fading. When Sakura's eyes opened, Tenten saw at first surprise on her friend's face, then an expression of mirth that made her instantly wary.
"What?" Tenten asked.
"Oh it's nothing. You're a model of health, and so are your babies," Sakura said lightly.
Tenten and Neji looked at each other and then back at Sakura. "Babies?" Their voices echoed as they spoke at once.
Sakura held up one and then two fingers. "Two heartbeats." The medic couldn't fight a grin at the poleaxed expressions on the faces of both parents-to-be.
"Twins?" Tenten murmured in disbelief.
Sakura looked between the two. "Both of you know that the Hyuuga clan produces multiple births at almost five times the rate of the general population," she reminded them. "This can't come as a complete surprise."
Like good shinobi, Tenten and Neji shook off their shock. "Yes, we knew," Tenten admitted, "but it was just a possibility when we talked about it."
"Well now it's a certainty," Sakura informed them. As she packed up her equipment, Sakura raised an eyebrow at Neji. "I would have thought you'd have seen them yourself. They fetuses are more than large enough."
Neji gave both women a wry smile. "Seeing through a chakra web as dense as the network around a kunoichi's womb is an effort, Sakura; few Hyuuga can do it at all. At Tenten's request I haven't tried, nor have Hinata and Hanabi. She wanted to be surprised, I think."
"Surprise…" Sakura murmured, grinning at Tenten, who stuck her tongue out at the medic.
When Sakura left, Tenten couldn't help giving her husband a worried look. "Neji…"
"It's not going to happen," Neji said firmly, taking her hand in his.
"But your father…"
"My grandfather's position in the clan was too weak to stop the elders from having their way when his children were born. History is not going to repeat itself." Neji paused. "We don't even know if they're identical or not."
Tenten bit her lip and then nodded. "All right." Neji looked down, and the veins around his eyes jumped to the surface. He stared silently for almost a minute before his expression softened.
"There they are, growing just beneath your heart. I wish I could show you this, Tenten. They're girls, both of them; as alike as a mirror." When Neji looked back up he saw the fear back on Tenten's face. "It won't happen, Tenten. We won't let it." He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight to his chest. "They'll both grow up as strong and beautiful as their mother, and neither will have to wear the Caged Bird seal."
"But…"
Neji pressed a fingertip to her lips. "We will not let it happen," he repeated firmly.
Sighing, Tenten nodded and let her head rest on his chest, the worries she couldn't voice whirling through her head. What if I'm not here to protect them? Her cover had lasted longer than she'd dared hope already, in large part due to her position within the Hyuuga clan. But if she was ever revealed and forced to leave Konohagakure, what then?
Putting it out of her mind, Tenten focused on the here and now. She rested a hand on her stomach, a sense of wonder filling her. Girls. My girls. I'll find a way to protect you, no matter what.