.

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

.

Enjoy.

.

Chapter 11. The exams

.

That morning she felt tired, not like after a workout or exercise, no, that wasn't the feeling. Strangely her body felt a little heavier than usual. It almost felt like that time she had had too much alcohol, but all night she had had two glasses of champagne and the rest she had opted for water. Since the night she got drunk Toshio had sternly warned her that such kind of incidents couldn't be repeated as they were 'inappropriate', and besides she really didn't like to drink, so she always kept a careful eye on the amount of alcohol she drank.

She wanted to continue lying down in the hope that the discomfort would disappear but it was impossible, it would be a hectic morning because that day the exams began. She could finally see a real result to her efforts and she prayed inside that they would be optimal, that way it was possible that they would let her continue with that work.

She got out of bed slowly, she felt an inexplicable metallic taste in her mouth, suddenly she would have bitten herself asleep. She took a shower calmly and when she got out of the shower, she checked the endless number of clothes that had been packed for the trip, nothing really comfortable, she chose a slightly tight yellow dress, because she had seen on the bed the suit that her husband was going to wear, and it was pertinent to combine it with it.

After breakfast they headed to the arena where the fights would take place, on the way they had a light conversation about the climate of the village and how the competitive atmosphere could be perceived in the air.

"It's important," Toshio began to speak before they arrived at the place, "that no one knows that you supported the training of our participants," she nodded, it made her a little sad not to be able to give them a motivational talk, "in this village they know your specialty and fighting style, we don't want them to think that is an advantage."

The arena was starting to fill up, as representatives of another village their seats were reserved, in the front row, it was a privileged view of the fights, only comparable to the view Tsunade must have had from her stage. The welcome and presentation of the participants was quick, as well as the explanation of the rules of the fights, taking into account the number of participants who had passed the initial phase, there would be 4 fights per day, if any fight was extended beyond the time that had been allocated the last fight that was scheduled for that day would be rescheduled for the first turn the next day.

Other rules were that it was forbidden to mortally wound or kill the opponent, and the ideal was to demonstrate all the skills that they believed could make them pass the exam because even if they lost the fight they would be given a score for the technique shown, the latter didn't exist when she took the exam.

There were 36 competitors in total, of which 9 were from the Lightning village. 3 of their students hadn't passed the first stage of these so they had dropped out of the competition. All the days that were scheduled had bouts of their students so their attendance was guaranteed. The opening fight was between the Leaf village for being the hosts and the Lightning village in distinction to them.

She remembered almost tenderly years ago when she had performed in both, the one where she lost to Temari, and the one where she was finally given the rank of chunin. On one side of her was Toshio who occasionally asked her about some of the jutsu used, and on the other was Haruo, with whom they discussed the effects of the booster they had given their participants. Her chest swelled with pride at Yuudai's ability to target the exact location had helped him win the first match.

The second fight was between the Leaf village and the Sand, it was a close fight that allowed them to see roughly the level of the Sand village. Although it was already late, they couldn't talk to their students to reformulate the strategy of the fights. The fight ended with the host village victorious and it was time for the lunch break.

A slight headache was bringing back the bad temper of the last week, within the lunch options she opted for something light to later look for some medicine that would at least alleviate that headache.

The afternoon fights were a little more delayed than those of the morning, it was evident that they were making an effort to show the full range of jutsu they had learned but in her opinion they were neglecting a little the combat as such, that is, taijutsu wasn't demonstrated by spinning around the opponent as if they wanted to dizzy that person, it was demonstrated by attacking and demonstrating to have better technique and resistance than this one.

It was already night, Toshio was sleeping next to her while she tossed and turned in bed, her headache had partially disappeared but the tiredness she felt hadn't, and she could swear that at times she had felt nauseous, she wasn't a hypochondriac but she did feel annoyed. Maybe some food from the day before had gone bad for her, but among everything they had packed for her, apparently no one seemed to think it was important to include some stomach medicine. She groaned once more in bed and got up naked to get dressed, at that time of the morning she could afford a little formal attire.

.

She walked out of her living quarters and looked up towards the Hokage residence, on the top floor she could see that there was still a light on, Tsunade was still there. The blonde was the best medical ninja so she could give her some medicine, Neji watched her from the roof, as she started walking and he just followed her silently.

"Tsunade-sama," she greeted her by peeking into her office, the suffix was automatic for her, "could I bother you?"

"Tenten! No bother at all, please come in, sit down," Tsunade looked at the clock on the small table, "what can I do for you at this hour?"

"I..." she was trying to sort it out in her mind, "emmm..." she was thinking about it, maybe she should wait for Toshio, and let him decide which doctor should check her out.

"What's wrong, Tenten?" the blonde was starting to see her worried.

"It's a medical consultation... but I think I'll wait until the morning and go to the hospital, surely it's just a food indisposition, maybe by the morning I'll feel better," she couldn't explain why she had felt that sudden fear.

"Tenten, sit on the stretcher please," Tsunade pointed to the side of the office where the mentioned object was located, "you already came all the way here, let me give you a quick check and see if I can at least help you with that discomfort."

She sat on the stretcher, while Tsunade approached her with her hand illuminated by the green chakra flow. She passed her hand starting at her head and moved down towards her back.

"Please lie down," she did so, the inspection continued down the front of her body, her gaze was concentrated. The blonde turned off the chakra flow and instructed her to sit back down.

"Is it something serious?"

"I'm not going to give you detours, Tenten," said the Hokage putting one of her hands on her chin. "You are pregnant," she felt a bucket of cold water fall over her.

"Are you sure?" A part of herself was trying to process the news as her inner voice reminded her that she was married, and had been having unprotected sex with her husband. How long did she think it would be before the obvious result of such an action made its presence known?

"Completely, with this brief exam I can tell you that you are in your first trimester, between 8 and 10 weeks," the way Tsunade looked at her was indecipherable, "I recommend you to go to the hospital tomorrow to have an in-depth exam and determine more precisely the exact time of gestation."

"I will talk it over with Toshio, thank you very much, Tsunade-sama," she began to head towards the door to return to her lodging.

"Wait, Tenten, I think this occasion will not be repeated... How was everything?"

"To tell you the truth..." she turned to see her but she didn't come closer, "it's not how the fantasy stories paint it," she smiled sideways, "but little by little I have learned, and I have been adapting to what is expected of me... I never expected to have such a high position in a village," she began to laugh at the absurdity, "but Toshio is..." how to describe him? "what it must be for someone in his position."

"Is it a wanted pregnancy?" she blinked, as she searched for the best way to answer.

"I have never been forced into anything," she clarified, understanding that was the point of the question, "it may be that this pregnancy," saying that word out loud gave her a slight shiver, "is not planned, but eventually it would happen, beyond whether we wanted it or not, but because it is important for the Yoshida to continue their lineage."

"I understand," the Hokage approached her and hugged her maternally, "please talk to him and if you decide to approach the hospital, I will personally do the examination for you."

"Thank you very much."

She left Tsunade's office and walked slowly towards the residence, she almost wanted to turn off and go to her old home in the village, she needed to assimilate the information she had just received, behind her on the rooftops was Neji.

"Did you hear everything?" she asked looking at him, he nodded, "I don't know what to do."

"Talk to your husband," he answered her, she denied while she started to cry.

Neji came down from the roof and she approached him, breaking into tears while he hugged her. She spent several minutes letting her tears out, until she slowly felt herself start to calm down.

"Sometimes I think this is all a dream, that I'm playing a character for a while and that I'll wake up at any moment before all this happened..." when they were together and happy, "but..." she wiped the tears from her face and brought her hands to her still flat abdomen, "this makes it real, this... I never thought this would happen."

"Tenten, I wish I could offer you a solution. But just like you I can't do anything either."

"I know, I have to go back and talk to Toshio."

Neji nodded and they started walking again in silence.

.

.

.

.

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

Hope you like it!

.

Regards, Sally K.