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Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me, otherwise the NejiTen would be canon.

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Enjoy.

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Chapter 21.

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He glanced around, taking in the architecture of the buildings that surrounded him. He wouldn't deny that it had been a tour full of imposing buildings, even if he had paid little or no attention to the guide who had explained everything to them.

He didn't consider himself to be that kind of tourist, when he was on his work trips, although he left a few days for himself at the end, it wasn't that he used them to go out and tour the city he was in and get to know it in detail. Usually those days for himself in his work trips were used to rest in the hotel, perhaps to go out to a nearby bar to meet a woman if he was in the mood and had that need to cover.

And when he took a vacation from the company he would usually ask Kiba or whoever his assistant was to make a reservation for him at a resort. A place where all his needs could be fulfilled without having to make any effort, where he could simply lie down to rest and completely disconnect his mind from his day to day life. He didn't want to frown at the thought that this was precisely why the brunette's idea of a year-long drifting trip was far-fetched, he wasn't suited for that kind of travel.

No, he wasn't thinking about the stupid idea, he also didn't want to get angry again at the irresponsibility in Tenten's words when she said that she had practically picked a random place to give birth. A complete coincidence that it was a good country and not one with a poor healthcare system, not to mention the unplanned early delivery. He definitely didn't want to get angry, because if he wanted to he was sure he could start an argument with the woman who was just waiting outside the bathroom for Yumiko to come out and didn't see him directly.

Until before Shino approached to talk to him, he considered that the date had gone well, he was taking his first steps in understanding if it was true what they said about blood calling or something like that. Those words about having feelings only for the fact that he knew he was talking to his daughter, but the truth was no, the words with which he could describe what was going through his head when talking to Yumiko was curiosity, for the moment nothing more than that.

He wasn't a very curious person per se, and it's not like he was an extremely social man who would just talk to people. Unlike when he was in high school, his social circle was wider, but besides his family it was mostly made up of business contacts. Important businessmen with positions similar to his own with whom he had made deals in the past or with whom he crossed paths at the club whenever he passed by.

Likewise in his normal day to day life his conversations usually boiled down to future plans and strategies to continue to grow the family corporation. He had always been a pragmatic man who didn't find much entertainment in small talk, unless of course he was thinking of taking the woman to bed and pretending to be interested in knowing what her favorite color was or some such nonsense to achieve his goal.

Which was obviously not the case at the moment. He was trying to make a genuine effort to get to know his daughter, not only as a first step so he could later talk about the legal issue but because perhaps he wanted to see if even though he had never interacted with her before he could see any of the characteristics of her family or himself. Leaving aside the color of her eyes.

A curse rang in his mind at the thought of Yumiko's eyes, precisely at the trait that made clear the kinship between them and that given the absence of the sunglasses now his guards had seen them. He had indeed noticed that she did not wear them, but hadn't related what that would entail, because without the hindrance they put up he had been able to see her every expression.

While talking to his daughter he had seen the gestures she was making, for example the angry look when he had apparently offended Tenten's husband. The chocolate orbs and the mauve orbs had shown anger, but for once it wasn't an identical gesture between mother and daughter, although both had twisted their mouths in the same way, for a moment he felt like he was looking himself in a mirror. That was the way he himself saw others when something bothered him, he knew how to recognize his own expressions and that angry look on Yumiko's face as she told him she wasn't going to let anyone speak badly of her father had certainly had the Hyūga stamp on it.

And then there was the look when a topic interested her, that slight inquisitive tone at the back of her eyes as she answered his questions and asked some of her own, or when she seemed surprised by the story the tour guide was telling about the building on duty. It was almost like watching Hanabi when she was that age, including that slight hint of rebelliousness.

The curse that had echoed in his mind wasn't due to having recognized that despite never having interacted with his daughter, she had the expressions of the family. It was precisely due to his family, or his uncle if he had to be much more specific. He had been so immersed in seeing those little details in the mauve orbs that he completely overlooked that he didn't want his guards to see them.

And now Hiashi knew, or well, given the time difference the man wasn't aware yet, but it was a matter of hours before his uncle would wake up and receive a message or perhaps a call that would inform him not only of what he had done during the day but of the identity of the young woman who had appeared and who his guards now knew was his daughter.

While he had suspected when he was in high school that the driver who always waited for him at the exit would tell his grandfather and uncle if he was leaving earlier or later, he had never suspected that there was always someone watching his movements. It wasn't until his third year of university that he discovered this, one afternoon when he was walking through the campus and some men tried to attack him, he had prepared to defend himself and managed to throw a couple of punches when out of nowhere appeared what he knew were his personal guards.

He had gone all the way to the mansion to talk to his grandfather about it, he had continued to use the driver but that had been because the university was secluded and he found the traffic irritating, so his driver's license was a decorative item. The old man explained to him that given his family name it was important to have a security scheme around him, the attack had been an attempted kidnapping by someone who no doubt hoped to harm the Hyūga family.

That argument he could understand, but not that he was being watched without his knowledge and followed all the time, not to think about the fact that he had so far failed to notice it. It was his uncle, who was also present, who made it clear to him that even before he moved out of the mansion there were security personnel around him to prevent any trouble. Without such personnel those men would probably have managed to take him away, or at least seriously hurt him because they outnumbered him.

So reluctantly and still frowning he had had to agree with his family about the need for bodyguards, the only condition he made was that they stop being in the shadows and without him knowing who exactly were the people around him that were guarding him. Since that afternoon he had officially started to always have a guard by his side, knowing that there were 3 more men in the vicinity and the driver.

When he left for the university, he was in the car with another guard, at least this one sat in the front seat next to the driver. And behind the vehicle in which he was traveling was another one with the remaining men. They didn't enter the classroom with him, but they waited for him outside and if the classroom was on the second floor he could see one of them on the other side of the window making rounds.

It didn't take him long to realize that his guards weren't just watching him in the sense of his physical safety, but that everything he did or the places he visited were reported to his grandfather. Also everything related to the visitors he received in his apartment, hearing a complaint from the old man about a Saturday when after midnight he had received 2 women who hadn't left until noon the next day.

The excuse he received wasn't at all credible, so he asked for a change of guards, but no matter how many times he changed them, the same thing always happened. Not to mention when he had gone to work for the family's company he noticed that his assistant was also leaking his schedule. Again, no matter how many assistants he fired, it happened again. So from many years ago he had become accustomed to the lack of privacy in that sense, that that was another way to control him.

That's why at his age he only blindly trusted 2 persons in his life, the first was Shino who proved to be a loyal guard at his 25 years old and had been the one who had accompanied him to get his vasectomy, never revealing to anyone where he had been. Not even to his head of security at the time who was clearly upset at his disappearance without his entire security scheme accompanying him. So when the vacancy to lead his security team became available, he himself asked the Aburame to take over that spot.

And the other person was Kiba. Given the fact that he always fired his assistants for leaking his schedule to his grandfather and uncle, he didn't even make an effort to like them in the interview or care to get to know them at least a little, he was indifferent too whether they were male or female. The only requirement given his position was that they spoke English and knew about administrative tasks because he wasn't going to waste his time explaining anything to them.

The Inuzuka didn't have much experience and to tell the truth it's not that he would have liked his extroverted personality, but given the fact that the other option was a woman who had been hitting on him the whole interview and an older woman who had exasperated him by her comments about the importance of a man of his age starting to settle down, he had opted for this one. In his mind all he could think was that the man would last 6 months or so before making some mistake that would show that he was leaking his schedule and that it was his uncle who was assigning him some appointments to fire him.

However, after almost 5 years he was still with Kiba. His grandfather hadn't liked him very much and his uncle clearly hated him because the Inuzuka had never allowed anything to be scheduled for him without consulting him first. And when something like that happened it was because his uncle would say it was an appointment to discuss company matters but upon arrival he would discover that it had been something more akin to an ambush. So on more than one occasion Hiashi had told him to fire him because a female assistant would be better or that it was time for him to change for someone else and that it was much cheaper, he didn't plan to do that.

He was aware that his assistant wasn't there after so many years because he loved being a mere assistant and not being able to move up, but because of the money. But he wasn't willing to lose him and go back to having an endless parade of new assistants, that's why he had him on a rather high salary for the position. And after so many years he had gotten used to the outgoing personality of this one, a personality that was also good because it was the man the others had to talk to.

It was also a good thing that between Shino and Kiba some camaraderie had formed, after all they were talking all the time and had many meetings between the 3 of them when some trip was coming up or during these.

But he had to be realistic, he wasn't just with the men he trusted, there were also the other guards and these were indeed a direct link to Hiashi. It was something that not even the Aburame had managed to control and that was the very reason why his plans were always made by counting that even though he didn't have a mole in his close circle, there were those around him.

"Mom?" Yumiko's voice brought him back to reality, noticing that she had come out of the bathroom and was talking to an unresponsive brunette, "Mom?" the young woman waved a hand in front of the woman, "Mom?"

"What?"

"In the world of what book were you in?" he only saw them, possibly being a writer it was usual for Tenten to get lost in her own imagination, "Mom?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The bathroom is already free, are you going in?"

"No," the answer was automatic, "I'm going to wait until we get to the hotel."

"Are we leaving already?" Yumiko anticipated his question.

"Yes, I told you we wouldn't stay too late."

"But we've barely been a couple of hours," the voice was pitiful, "I don't want to leave yet."

"Yumiko..."

"If you are tired you can go," he commented, "we can go to eat something and then I'll take Yumiko to the hotel."

"I'M NOT LEAVING MY DAUGHTER ALONE WITH YOU!" his brow furrowed at the angry tone with which the brunette spoke to her.

"She's not just YOUR daughter," he hissed without wanting to raise his voice, "besides I was already alone with her and absolutely nothing happened to her."

"I don't care!"

"Do you think I'm not capable of taking care of my own daughter?" He didn't want to match Tenten's annoyance, but he found her sudden change of attitude quite strange.

"You didn't even know about her 2 days ago, don't suddenly come and act like you're her father," his frown got much more furrowed.

"And who was the one who decided that I wouldn't be?" he claimed.

"The same person who is deciding that it's time for us to go," it was an ironic tone that only annoyed him more, "Yumiko, we're leaving."

"Mom... just 1 more hour, while we eat something..."

"I said no."

"What kind of mother doesn't listen to her own daughter?" it was his turn to use sarcasm.

"DON'T YOU DARE FOR ONE DAMN SECOND INSINUATE THAT I'M NOT COMPETENT AS A MOTHER!" Tenten pointed at him with the same hand in which she wore her wedding ring. Several of the guards approached, that wasn't anger, it was pure rage and no doubt they were preparing to intervene in a possible attack.

"Mrs. Sabaku," it was Shino who spoke while making a sign for no one to approach, "I'm sure this is a conversation that would be better for you to have in private," the chocolate orbs evaluated the scene around them.

"Mom," Yumiko's voice was barely a whisper that contrasted with the previous shout, "do you want me to get you something?"

"Yumiko, please..." the brunette had lowered her hand and looked like she was about to hyperventilate, "let's go, just... let's go."

"Okay," agreed the young woman, "do you want to go to a drugstore first or...?" Tenten shook her head, "well, I guess that's all for today."

"We still have tomorrow's appointment," he reminded them.

"It has to be a damn joke."

"Why would it be?" now it was the brunette's frown that was furrowed.

"Fine," she almost spat, "but it will be the last date."

She didn't wait for anyone to say anything, taking Yumiko's hand to turn her back on them and start moving towards the parking lot. In the distance he could see a guard following them but only a second after he noticed him, he could hear Shino activate the radio.

"I haven't authorized anyone to follow them," pronounced the man, "everyone go back to your respective places," after that there were several seconds of silence while he could feel the icy wind on his face, "Neji?"

"I'll eat at the hotel," were his words starting to walk to the car, thinking that more than dinner he was in the mood for a couple of glasses of whiskey.

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She wasn't sure how she had gotten into the car, she only knew that she saw the steering wheel in front of her as if she had never seen it before in her life and without knowing exactly what she was supposed to do next. Her muscles were totally tense and that was when her head reminded her that only a few minutes ago her nerves had completely collapsed, all triggered by the confirmation that the man now knew she had failed.

Fear, that was the only thing her head had processed as she understood that Neji was being watched as in yesteryear and now the horrible man knew that what she couldn't allow to happen, had happened. All the fear from that time years ago had come rushing back through her, not helped one bit by the realization that even though she was half a world away, she was once again surrounded by guards at that moment.

She knew that her reaction had been over the top, that the mask she was trying to wear wasn't working and that rather than trying to keep Neji away what it was doing was making her look like a crazy person or someone who was screaming nonsense. The lying thing was much easier when she only had to do it in class, or when she imagined it was a character from her books doing it.

"Mom?" she didn't turn to look at her daughter, "are you feeling all right?"

"Yes," she said unconvincingly, the worst part was for Yumiko to see her acting that way, not only different from how she was in her day to day life, but also to hear her lie out loud. How could she when she returned home claim her for lying to get away? How could she still be a mother figure that her daughter could trust?

"Are you sure?" she nodded her head, taking a deep breath as she pressed the car's ignition button but did nothing else, "do you want me to drive?" now she shook her head, "Mom?"

"Your license is a learner's license, I think that because of the change of province here it is not valid," she wasn't entirely sure of that information, it's not as if she had read the laws of Quebec before getting in the car to go to that province to pick up her daughter, "I'm fine," she affirmed a little calmer, "I'm fine," she reiterated after taking a deep breath.

She removed the handbrake to then make sure to put the car in gear, she had to pull herself together, she couldn't afford to continue showing her weakness neither in front of her daughter nor much less in front of the Hyūga. He had to regain his composure and prepare to wear the mask again the next day, this time without it breaking.

She also had to find a way to convince Neji not to want to get any closer to Yumiko, because his attitude that afternoon had made it clear that he was looking to bridge the gap. It wasn't very helpful for her to confront him directly either, he was upset and her retorting in the same way was only provoking him more. The problem was that her mind at that very moment was completely blank when it came to creating a plan.

"Do you want to go to the movies?" Despite not having any idea about what she would do the next day, she was much calmer the further they got away from the Hyūga, so she could enjoy the rest of the day with her daughter.

"I guess," she did her best to smile, handing her phone to Yumiko to look up on the GPS which was the nearest movie theater, "are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, honey," she reiterated as soon as the device started giving directions, "I'm sorry, you shouldn't have seen me that way..." her daughter shouldn't have heard her blatantly lying either, "it's just..." she bit her lip as she turned on the turn signal to indicate that she was going to turn right, "I had you when I was very young."

"I know."

"Do you remember I told you that we spent almost half a year going back and forth to the hospital when you were a baby?"

"Of course, when they had to do the surgery that you said saved my life," she had never hidden the reason for her scar from her daughter, she was always honest with her.

"Exactly, before they found out you had that congenital problem all the doctors and nurses were... well, they weren't usually very kind because they thought I was neglecting you and being a careless mother..." she inhaled deeply, "when the truth of your illness came out they stopped judging me wrongly, but... well," she paused for a moment, "I have always done everything in my power for your well being, so neither then nor now I have taken it very well that anyone dares to question my abilities as a mother."

"You are a good mother."

"Thank you, sweetheart," she slowed down as she pulled into the parking lot, "I think I'm just... tired and that's why I over reacted, it won't happen again," even though it was a hard promise to keep she didn't want to keep thinking about it. She stopped the car completely and they both got out, "did you check the billboard?"

"Yes, although I didn't reserve the tickets because we were only a few minutes away and it's a weekday."

"Well, if we don't get we can look for another place... or we could also go shopping," her daughter smiled and she answered in the same way heading first to the bathroom because she still needed to go inside.

"Mom... can I ask you something?" Yumiko spoke as they left the window with the 2 tickets for the movie and now they were walking to the food stand to buy a giant bowl of popcorn for each one of them.

"Sure, honey," for a moment she thought her daughter was going to ask her why she had lied about how many months pregnant she was when she had come to Canada.

"My surgery when I was a baby... the scar I have... is from a congenital heart disease."

"That's right," she admitted slightly relieved, they were in front of the cashier in the food section, "a large couple's combo," she ordered at once because it was the option that included enough food for both of them.

"You told me that I didn't inherit it from your side of the family... that means..." Yumiko continued talking while they waited for their order to be delivered. "Neji has the same disease?" she nodded, "His scar is the same as mine?"

"Yes, apparently he had the same type of surgery," and not the open heart surgery which was the other option and left a much larger scar.

Although her daughter hadn't started her sex life yet, it wasn't as if she didn't know about it. With Gaara they had explained to her what sex was and that she should never let herself be pressured to have sex, it was a decision she should make when she felt completely sure and because she really wanted to do it. For that very reason it made no sense to insinuate that she had never seen Neji naked and that she didn't know about said scar.

"Is it a Hyūga disease?"

"I don't know, I never knew who inherited that condition to Neji."

"Would it be disrespectful if I asked him?" at that moment they were handed the two large buckets of popcorn, so her pause was to eat a couple of these.

"The truth is Neji doesn't know what his scar is from," she shrugged, "remember the doctors said it would be like you never suffered from anything?" Yumiko nodded, "well, I think his family took those words at face value and never mentioned his illness or the surgery to him."

"Then why does he think he has that scar?"

"If I remember correctly his grandfather told him that he fell as a child," she shrugged her shoulders again, "I don't know anything else."

"That's weird, isn't it?" Yumiko had taken her respective bucket and was also eating some popcorn before going inside.

"What's weird?" she questioned, not understanding what exactly her daughter was referring to.

"That your family doesn't tell you the truth."

"It's a weird family," she asserted, "and the farther away we are from them, the better," she could see Yumiko's disgruntled look for her answer, but they didn't say anything else, heading together to the place to watch the movie.

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All corrections and comments are always well received, they help me improve a lot.

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Regards, Sally K.