Shino was more than a little surprised to find Tenten was still lying beside him the next morning when his alarm woke him.
"Mornin' Doc," she grinned, over her shoulder before turning over to face him; he couldn't help but admire the light pick up the different shades of brown her hair contained and how incredibly long it truly was; it took all the self-discipline he had to get out of bed.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"I have; the early shift; at the hospital."
The knife user leant up on her elbow at that gaining his full attention, making him turn away from the open wardrobe, clean shirt already in hand.
"Take the day off, call in sick for once in your life," Tenten moved her cheek to rest in her palm then. "Spend the day in bed with me. I know you want to."
As his mind tried to decide if her eyes were a chocolate brown or a chestnut brown in the morning sunlight, Shino had the thought that he must be going out of his mind because he was actually considering her idea.
"I will do it on one request."
Her entire face seemed to sparkle with mischief then.
"Haggling Doc?" Her grin became downright captivated. "There's hope for you yet."
The doctor continued. "Any question I ask you over the course of the day you answer."
She rolled her eyes slowly in reflection as she stretched out the kinks in her back.
"Same to you then Doc, any question I ask you, you answer as well."
Shino hung his clean white shirt back in the closet. "Deal."
"What did your friends say when you told them you were sick?" She asked as soon as he came back into the bedroom.
"Kiba was about to; run over here; believing; I was about to; drop dead."
That made her grin in mirth. "Sounds like he has your back."
"He does," Shino agreed, and it was true, him and Kiba had differences but they worked well together. "Thankfully Hinata; was able to; persuade; him I was capable of administering my own care."
"Hinata? Sounds cute. Do you like her?" By the grin she shot him Tenten obviously knew he didn't really know what she was implying. "Is she your girl?"
The doctor just could not rap his head around her question.
"If I liked her; in a; romantic; sense; I would not be here with you."
Her eyes actually went wide and her jaw a little slack at that before she gave him a serene look.
"Well I'll be. Smart, cute, honourable and a one-woman man? I've never heard anything like it."
The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. "Perhaps you should; look; for better company."
The knife wielder laughed like he had just told a joke.
"Get over here," Tenten pulled on his hand so he fell on the bed beside her, she quickly moved to drape herself over him. "I'll show you how honourable I can be."
Her body was littered with scars he had felt the raised skin in his hands the night before but being able to see them fully in the daylight was something else entirely.
Most of the marks on her body were small, from the way they had healed they looked like bullet or knife wounds, but he couldn't be one hundred percent certain, but giving how he met her it was a safe guess.
The one on her side made his heart stop cold. It must have been twenty centimetres long and a half centimetre wide, depending on how deep it had been it might have hit her intestines, stomach, and spleen or maybe even her pancreas. It also looked like it had healed without proper medical attention, how was she even still alive?
"It's pretty ugly right?" She agreed with a simple raised eyebrow and a tilt of her head as she looked down at the scar too. "He gutted me good. Was in a coma for a while and everything. I got the last laugh though."
"What; did you do?" He asked even though he knew he didn't want to know the answer.
"That's a story for another day," the knife wielder evaded before moving his hand down to a far smaller scar on her hip. "What's this one called?"
She liked it when he ran his fingers over her scars, she asked him to tell her the medical term for the muscles that had healed.
"The extensor; hallucis; longus," the doctor muttered as his fingers danced over a long but narrow scar along the side of her calve before he placed a kiss to the healed skin.
"You make medicine sound sexy," the bun haired woman teased. "What made you want to be a doctor anyway?"
Shino placed another kiss to the scar before answering. "My father."
"He a doctor to?" The criminal member tilted her head and bit her lip.
The doctor hmm'd to tell her she was correct. "As well as; my grandfather; and my great grandfather; and so on."
"A family of smartasses huh?"
"A family of helpers; healers," the Aburame corrected making her look contemplative.
"Next your gonna tell me your family invented penicillin or something," she joked.
"No; we did not invent; penicillin;" Shino confirmed running his lips over the inside of her knee making her hum in her throat. "But my family; were; the first to use Maggot Therapy; in the First World War."
Tenten blinked wide eyes. "Did you just say 'maggot'?"
"Indeed," the doctor moved up to her inner thigh, unphased. "The process of using; bugs; to remove; dead tissue; from soldiers."
The criminal member's entire face scrunched up in repulsion. "That's disgusting."
"It saved; many; lives. The dead tissue being removed; by the insects; before they could receive proper medical care meant; when they arrived in surgery; it was far simpler to know what; tissue; and organs; to save. It also; greatly; lowered infection rates."
"Doesn't make it any less disgusting," Tenten told him laughing lightly. "I'm not sure I want to kiss you after that."
He raised himself back up her body then. "And if I wanted to kiss you? Would you be opposed?"
She gave him an amused smile. "Well, you wouldn't need to twist my arm or anything."
When Shino kissed her then she kissed back just as deeply.
"What's with the sunglasses?" The knife wielder asked her forefinger running along the rim, still fully wrapped around him. "Not that they don't make you look cool but what gives?"
"Why? Because both me; and my father have; very mild; photophobia."
She gave a teasing grin, even tapping her finger against the glasses rim. "What's that in English?"
"Our eyes are sensitive; to light," the doctor simplified.
"So, if I removed these-"
Her fingers ran along the edge of the frames then and he took hold of her hand.
"I would be in pain; yes."
Tenten raised her other hand and pushed them further up his nose then.
"We wouldn't want you hurt, would we?"
He kissed her, slowly, unrushed and the criminal member lazily pulled him down the rest of the way, so they were completely pressed together.
"I don't know about you Doc but I'm starving," Tenten told him once they managed to crawl out of bed in the late evening. Her happily stealing some of his non-work clothes to wear, he told himself not to think of that being a very 'girlfriend' thing for her to do.
"We can order; whatever; you wish," Shino suggested. "I'm afraid; cooking; was a skill; I never acquired."
She actually tutted at him. "What a shame, and you were so close to being the full package. Well as you already know I'm good with a knife," she teased. "Let's see what I've go to work with."
The way her eyebrow rose in pure distaste when she opened his fridge and cupboards and found nothing of value was almost comical.
"Really Doc? Water, granola, and coffee? Ever hear of a vegetable?"
Shino had a very easy answer for why his cupboards were bare, but his bin was filled with empty food containers.
"My work hours can sometimes be so; sporadic; a lot of what I bought; went out of date; and became; unsalvageable."
Hand still holding the open cabinet handle she cocked her hip and rested her head on the back of the hand holding the handle, giving him a thoughtful look. "Kinda sounds like you need someone to look after you doctor."
The medical professional thought that was a rather strange take on what he said.
"When did you last have a home cooked meal?" He had only begun to think about when it could have possibly been when she spoke again. "If you have to think about it's been too long."
"I'm fixing this. You have a laptop? We'll need to order groceries."
"Where; did you learn to cook?"
Watching her cut up the vegetables and meat she had ordered, with such skill and control, he could almost convince himself she was a chef and not, whatever exactly she was.
"I was left on my own a lot when I was a kid. You learn to make more than toast pretty quick, and before you ask why I was left alone a lot," Tenten smirked, throwing something in the pot on the stove then, a flavouring of sorts. "My parents were working, and not exactly the jobs you call in sick too."
She cut another of his mentally half formed questions straight after.
"I joined the family business yes."
"May I; ask; why?"
The doctor asked coming to stand beside her; she was smart, talented, confident, surly she could have chosen a different way of life for herself.
She took a second to place a sheet of pastry in the bottom of the pan, gently folding it into the corners to be able to use all the space in the metal pan available.
"The money's good," the criminal member replied airily.
Shino wasn't convinced. "Is that; really; why?"
Tenten placed the saucepan in the sink, to sit in an inch or so of cold water, to allow the contents to thicken before being added to the pastry.
"At the beginning it was," that answer sounded more truthful.
"And now?"
"They're my family," she laid out another roll of pastry that would act as the top of the pie she was making. "We look out for each other. They took us in when we had nowhere else to go."
"There is al-"
"Always another option?" She finished with a hardened look, telling him she'd heard that line one too many times before, it had lost any real meaning long ago. "It's easy for people to say that who have never had to steal to avoid going to bed starving, when they already haven't eaten in three days."
Tenten was right, he had no idea what that felt like; he had never had anything less than what he wanted or needed.
He came up behind her, setting his hands on her waist and pressing his face into her hair.
"I; apologise; Tenten. I did not mean-"
"I'm made of thicker stuff than that Doc," she grinned, and it was true, she didn't look off put by him in the slightest. "Here, wanna help me make shapes to put on the pie lid?"
She laid the remaining pastry she had out and together they cut leaves out of the pastry, hers looking nearly professional, with clear cut edges and careful indents to give the fake leaves a real feeling, while his were barely recognisable as leaves at all.
She laughed when one of them stuck to his fingers.
"You should stick to stitching people up Doc. You and cooking don't seem to work."
"It is; pleasant; to see you so; relaxed."
The doctor commented easily as she slowly poured the saucepans contents into the pastry coated pan.
"Yea?" She asked back as she carefully cut the excess pastry off the pie by running the blunt edge of the knife around the circler tin.
He nodded and even her smile relaxed even more.
"Guess I don't slow down a lot," the knife wielder elbowed him in the side then. "Or maybe it's my new company."
They gently placed their pastry leaves on the pie top before coating the top in water and placing it in the preheated oven then.
"Twenty minutes and it's food time!"
They sat at his joint kitchen dining room table; it was probably the first time he had used it as anything but a dumping ground for books and medical charts.
Shino had to move large piles of paper and hardbacked book to be able to get enough space for Tenten to set down the two plates.
"This is; delicious," he praised from the first forkful.
"Don't sound so surprised!" She joked, cutting her part of the side of her fork instead of the cutlery knife. "But you are welcome."
He finished another few mouthfuls of the delicious meal in quick succession, now truly realising how hungry he was after not eating all day.
"The boys were admiring your stitching of my arm," the criminal member said suddenly making his eyebrow raise. "They wanted your name so they could go to you and get the same treatment. Good doctors are so hard to find."
The thought of more of her gang appearing in his home in the dead of night made his insides turn, the doctor could barely handle one. Tenten had turned his life upside down enough on her own.
"And; what did you tell them?"
She gave a sly grin, cutting more of her slice of pie. "I told them this particular doctor was all mine, off limits to anyone but me and they could just get their own."
Her wording shouldn't have made him feel pleased, but he did a little.
"I could get you a job," the knife user suddenly offered, and seriously too by her expression. "They'd pay well. You could live in a house the size of this entire apartment building. You would just need to work exclusively for us."
He didn't answer but simply asked a question back to her instead. "Do you; honestly; believe; I would take your offer?"
Surprising him she placed a kiss to the side of his mouth. "No, you're too good a person," when she pulled back, she gave him an honest smile. "But I had to try."
As she placed her free hand on his wrist and continued eating her slice of pie with her other hand Shino stupidly daydreamed that he could get very easily used to this.
After their incredibly late dinner she dragged him back to bed, not that he wouldn't have gone willingly.
"You've completely exhausted me Doc. I could sleep for a week."
When Tenten shuffled deeper into his bed he thought he saw her shiver.
"Are you comfortable?" The medical professional asked sitting on the edge of the bed. "I am; aware; my apartment is not the warmest. I could; turn the heating on."
"Your parents raise you to be a gentleman?" She teased tugging on his hand to get him to lay beside her. "Or did you learn that all on your own?"
As soon as he was under the covers, she pulled him to her side.
"My father; would in no way approve; of anything less."
"And your mom?" She breathed.
He sighed deeply, he had hoped this conversation wouldn't arrive, but he had asked about her family, it only made sense his own mother would become a topic.
"She died; when I was three; a robbery," Shino rolled onto his back so he didn't have to see her reaction. "She was; stabbed."
Tenten moved onto her front, he could feel her looking at him intently, but he continued to stare at the ceiling, not meeting her eye.
"Explains why you don't like knifes," she leant up further on her arms. "Did they ever get him?"
He took a large inhale through his nose. "No."
"You know, I could do you a solid this time," she started in a tone that set his teeth on edge. "I have contacts, if you tell me the date and where it was I could-"
"No," the doctor stated firmly making her frown.
"Why? You don't want the guy who killed your mom to go down?"
"It would; not; change my life."
That only made her more confused. "What? Yes, it would. The basterd who killed your mother would be dead. An eye for an eye, a life for a life."
"That is a; terrible; expression to live by," he replied easily, having to remain staring at the ceiling to keep his nerves, confrontation was never his strong point.
"You realise because I know your name, I could easily find it out on my own? Take the basterd down myself. It must have been what? Twenty-five, twenty-six years ago? If it was that long ago, he's probably old now, weak; it would be easy," Tenten sat up then to lean over him, determined. "Let me kill him for you."
"I; beg; of you to not go down that path; in my name," the Aburame sat up himself, she didn't shy away, she stood her ground. "Do; not; spill blood for me."
She did look so thoroughly dumbfounded about why he didn't want what she was offering; it spoke volumes about their different lifestyles and upbringings.
"What? Is that some kind of doctor's oath?"
"Partially yes. But it is what; I; want. I do not wish; violence; done in my name. I beg; of you Tenten."
For the first time since he had met her, she looked truly shaken. Not when she was threatening him, or when she was bleeding and injured, or when he was literally sowing her skin back together; but now. The criminal almost looked impressed in a strange way.
"There is such a thing as being too honourable, being too much of a good person you know, that right?"
Shino tilted his head to the side to think her words over as his hand ran up her arm.
"I do not; believe that," he looked straight at her again, his voice lowering. "And I'm not sure; you; fully believe that either."
She slid into his lap then and pressed a kiss to his lips which he easily returned it.
When he woke up the next morning she was gone, one of the only indicators she was really there at all was the remaining chicken and vegetable pie in the fridge with written instructions on how to heat it up properly. He took it with him for lunch that day and it was just as delicious.
The next day he found another gift in his locker, a possibly even stranger one than the other two, a very old, very read, children's book called 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'; he read the note with interest.
Since you like bugs so much Doc it made me think of this. This is the first gift I ever remember my mother giving me. Don't be fooled. I'll see you again to get this back.
He hated that he actually spent his lunch break looking through the book, he hated even more than his entire being looked forward to seeing her again.
