.

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

.

Enjoy.

.

Chapter 19. Ultrasound

.

She inhaled deeply, counted to 20 and began to exhale slowly. She was 5 months and 1 week old, her back started to hurt if she was standing too long and if she had to walk long distances her ankles started to swell. She had to get up to go to the ultrasound, the day to reveal the sex of the baby had arrived, Takeshi kept repeating in her head and she kept denying, remembering the family tree she was sure it was a boy, but he wouldn't have that name, no, he wasn't going to grow up as Toshio's son.

She left walking towards the doctor's office while trying to think of other possible names, but only names that began with 'T' came to her mind, stupid! She had been in her home village for a month and a half, her marriage had been annulled, and the peace treaty with the Lightning Country was about to be signed. She had to stop thinking about what she had lived through, and focus on what was to come. My son, my son, my son, she repeated to herself like a prayer. No, Takeshi wasn't going to be the name.

"How do you keep going?" asked the Hokage sympathetically in the office.

"Growing," she replied, pointing to her increasingly prominent belly.

"Your dark circles under your eyes are appearing again," she brought her hand to her right eye as if this way she could make them disappear, "I thought we had already talked about the importance of proper rest."

"We did," she replied resignedly.

"Your insomnia disappeared for almost a month and then suddenly it came back. What happened?" she shook her head with a shrug of her shoulders, pretending not to know the answer, "Tenten," Tsunade pointed to the stretcher to start the ultrasound, "it's a vital issue, you may have problems with the baby's development."

"I just..." she climbed onto the stretcher with her belly uncovered, the cold gel and the transducer of the machine made its presence, "I feel overwhelmed," and that wasn't a lie.

"I understand you, it is a big challenge that awaits you," Tsunade started to move the transducer, "but I want you to remember that you're not alone, your friends have told me that you hardly spend any time with them," again the device was moved, "also remember that the Inuzuka and Akimichi clans have offered to receive you in their homes to help you with this."

"I don't feel comfortable with that, I don't want to be a burden to anyone, it is my son."

"Tenten," the blonde looked at her seriously, "you won't be a burden to anyone," then the woman paused and pointed at the screen satisfied, she had found what she was looking for, "look," her finger indicated a spot next to what looked like legs, "it's a girl."

"What?" it was impossible.

"That's right, I'm never wrong with this," the Hokage pointed again to the screen, "here we can clearly see that it is a girl."

"Tsunade-sama, that's impossible," the woman arched an eyebrow, "the first-born Yoshida is always a boy."

"That's nonsense and absurd beliefs, you can't guarantee the sex of the baby. There is no magic formula," Tsunade turned off the machine and handed her the tissue so she could wipe off the gel. The woman got up to get the notebook and make some notes. Then Tsunade furrowed her brow as she read some of what she had written down, "I know I shouldn't burden you with any more worries," she put the notebook aside, "but we have an issue that we haven't been able to resolve."

"What is it now?"

"It's a legal matter," Tsunade started to say, "as you know your marriage was annulled and all that was solved but..."

"Please don't tell me that there is still some document that says I'm married."

"No, it's not that... it's..." the woman looked uncomfortable, "it's your last name," she didn't answer, "as you well know, because of your roots before you went to the Lightning village in our documentation you only appeared as Tenten, without anything else, but with the marriage now you register as Yoshida."

"No!" she denied, understanding where the topic was going.

"We have been investigating from the legal side and we can't remove it, unless we replace it with another one. I'm afraid to tell you that everything seems to indicate that when your daughter is born, she will inherit the surname Yoshida."

"That is inadmissible," no, no, no, and a thousand times no. She was her daughter, not Toshio's.

"I'm sorry," Tsunade paused, "go home and try to rest, we'll keep looking for a way to solve it."

.

He looked at the clock on the bedside table, it was going to be 5am, he was late. He was so comfortable at that moment that he didn't want to get up, next to him she was breathing slowly and deeply. Tenten hadn't sought him out to have sex, he knew perfectly well that she had sought him out because she felt safe sleeping with him, her head must have been a boiling pot of ideas and she was just looking for them to be still for a moment. That's why he was surprised to wake up with her on top of him, did he want to have sex with her? He would be a liar if he answered no, his excitement at having her in that position had been automatic, especially when their lips had joined after so long.

He arrived at the barracks half an hour late, those who saw him enter said nothing to him. He was always punctual, and it was also known by all his little patience to those who made useless comments. He took the uniform and mask that had been designated for that day. With the progress of the interrogations and given the different methods they handled, they had noticed that the prisoners used to have one attitude or another according to who they thought was scrutinizing them, so they decided to start alternating the masks, that threw them off and again they were able to continue with the attainment of information.

Except for Toshio, for not having great skills, the man had resisted most of the techniques that had been applied to him and revealed very little data, he kept repeating that they would never find his father. And somehow the man knew when he was the one who questioned him and made out-of-place comments about Tenten.

"How is my son?" Toshio asked him.

"The village annulled the marriage, you will not be recognized as the father," he answered in a monotonous way, that question and answer was repeated daily no matter who questioned him.

"You smell like her," Toshio spat at him, although the mask hid his expression, it remained impassive, "Has she already told you that it was she who begged me to possess her?" He kept silent, "I remember it perfectly, she moaned your name that first time."

"Today we received a wonderful piece of information," he took a piece of paper out of the folder, "we found the patriarch."

"Don't worry, I made it very clear to her that it wasn't you," the man continued.

"Today will be the ambush," he could see the fear in his eyes before striking back.

"What I've missed the most here has been that perfect pair of tits, tell me, have they already increased their size by having my son inside?" he tried to remain unfazed by the comments, but he wanted to hit him. Maybe he could knock out a couple of his teeth without anesthesia, and say it was because of the interrogation.

"He's in the Water Country," he replied, turning over the sheet of paper he was holding in his hand.

"You'll never be able to catch him," Toshio almost shouted at him, "just as you won't be able to erase everything I enjoyed with her," the man replied in a mocking tone.

Two knocks sounded at the door, they needed him outside.

"This is not going to turn out well," said Shikamaru once he left the room, "I'll take it from here."

"As you wish," he answered taking off his mask.

The day Shikamaru had discovered them marked a before and after in the relationship with the Nara, it could be said that a little closer friendship had been formed. The Nara hadn't told anyone about what he had seen, and the Hokage had only been told that Tenten was asleep without telling her exactly where. Sometimes he would go out with him during his cigarette breaks, and they would remain in a silence of camaraderie.

They were 2 of the least talkative shinobi in the village but they still trusted each other completely. He knew that was why Shikamaru had chosen to interrupt that interrogation, although many times Toshio had gotten snippy with comments, never to the extent of that day. He wanted to go back in and be able to break his nose again.

A last minute message arrived at the barracks and he had to go out immediately to support the ambush. The result was successful and 2 days later he returned to the village finally with Tetsu Yoshida as prisoner, it was the final requirement to be able to talk about a peace treaty.

Another couple of days passed, the brunette hadn't come to his apartment again. He was frustrated and short-tempered for not being able to sleep, especially since now his dreams were that he didn't make it in time to come between Tenten and Toshio, and she lost, or they failed the mission and didn't manage to rescue her. All of that was being unloaded in the interrogation of the patriarch, everyone was pleased with the information he had managed to get.

He went to the Hokage residence to deliver the report of what they had so far, Shizune received the folder because Tsunade wasn't there. He was on his way back to the barracks when he saw Tenten leaving the hospital, her dark circles under her eyes were marked, she wasn't sleeping either. Besides he knew the expression that Tenten had at that moment. She walked hurriedly because she was about to burst into tears.

.

She reached her house almost running and opened the door clumsily, tears were starting to accumulate in her eyes and she couldn't see well. She slammed the door hard and threw the keys anywhere, curled into a ball on the bed and let her tears flow. She was crying for a moment when she felt that pair of arms comforting her, she hung on his neck while crying, hiccuping and repeating that it couldn't happen, he didn't say anything, just stroked her hair silently. She fell asleep in that position. When she woke up she saw food on the night table, tea in a thermos that prevented it from getting cold, and a simple note.

We'll talk in the evening. N.

She drank her tea and then got up to organize, she needed to occupy her mind, and a good thing for that was protesting because she had to start cleaning the room that was going to become the baby's room, already knowing that it was a girl, she could start looking for decorations that matched. Her parents had inherited that house, and she thanked heaven that it had 3 rooms of which she only used 2.

The food he had left her was her lunch, her stomach felt closed. She had been busy all afternoon and part of the evening. She sighed, her back was starting to ache so she took a seat on the living room couch, which had finally been reupholstered to her liking again, she closed her eyes trying to meditate and organize her thoughts. What was she going to tell Neji?

.

He had to leave her alone, although given the state he had found her in, he didn't consider it appropriate to do so, but it was necessary. His presence at the barracks was required, so he left her that note. Just as he was essential in the barracks, so was resolving the situation with her.

He did everything in his power to make the time yield and not leave late, but he didn't succeed. When he left the facility it was going to be midnight. Should he go to her house and try his luck to see if she was still awake? Or go to his place and wait for her to arrive? Hell, he should have been more precise with the note. If he took the long way to his apartment, he could stop by Tenten's place and try the first option. He peeked out and saw her asleep on the couch. He couldn't leave her sleeping there, he went into the house and picked her up to take her to the bedroom, she opened her eyes as soon as he put her on the bed.

.

.

.

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

Hope you like it!

.

Regards, Sally K.