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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 20. Vis-a-vis

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"I... I'm going to the bathroom," he saw her get up from the bed quickly, or well, as fast as she could in her state, he stayed waiting for her to get out without moving, she sat on the bed and he imitated her, "Thank you."

"Tenten," he started, "will you tell me what happened?" she denied, he snorted, "don't tell me it's nothing," no one cried like that for nothing.

"It's a girl," she admitted, touching her belly, a sad smile was drawn on her face.

"Were you crying because you wanted a boy?" he asked incredulously, although, well, he had heard something about the hormones of pregnant women.

"No, it's something more complicated than that... I'm happy that it's a girl..." she looked at the ceiling, "Toshio was sure it would be a boy, I am glad it's not."

"He can't do anything to you anymore," he wanted to put a hand on her shoulder but restrained himself, "very soon he will be transferred to one of the maximum security prisons, you will never hear from him again."

"I wish it were that simple," she whispered.

"Please tell me, what is going on? I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on" she denied again.

"No one can help me," determined, the next day he would ask the Hokage directly, "unless you can turn back the time to that day you doomed me to this mission," a shiver ran through him and his back tensed up.

"Tenten, please don't do this," he could see how she started crying again.

"Go away," she whispered to him as she tried to wipe away the tears but they kept coming, "just... go away."

He stood up hesitantly, he couldn't leave her like that, he went to say something to her but she was looking at the floor. He walked slowly towards the door. He left the house but before he took a step to go to his apartment the brunette came running up to where he was.

"NO! Don't leave me alone," she crashed into his chest and was still crying, he went back inside with her in his arms, and on the bed he settled against the wall. So that she was cradled on his chest, and in that position they spent the night.

He woke up before 4 a.m., Tenten was breathing steadily so he settled her in bed. He went to work without stopping by his apartment first, he was going to take the day off even though that wasn't allowed until the reports on the Yoshida case were finished. As fast as he could, he organized the information, left several indications given and in a threatening manner made it clear to those who depended on him that under no circumstances could they bother him. He would have to do a shift of at least 30 hours of punishment and would earn a reprimand the next day, of that he was sure... but he didn't care.

He returned around 7 a.m., to the house. He saw the refrigerator full of stacked meals and grabbed two, he would replenish that, heat them up, put water on to boil in the kettle and had a quick breakfast while he waited. Contrary to his apartment, there wasn't a single corner of Tenten's house where the sun didn't illuminate with all its splendor. Just as he predicted, the brunette appeared at the door of the room a few minutes later attracted by the smell of hot food. She didn't say hello, just sat down in the chair across the table from him and began to eat.

He had experienced that scene before, Tenten would wake up and almost like an automaton she would go to the kitchen, eat something, drink her coffee and then she would greet him. She said that sometimes she woke up asleep because she was hungry. She hadn't had coffee, instead, with the hot water she made a fruity infusion, for her pregnancy he supposed, and only after drinking it she seemed to realize that she wasn't alone.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you during the day," was her greeting, leaving the cup on the table.

"I know, the ANBU schedule is..."

"Inhuman," she completed, he nodded.

They were sitting in the dining table inside the kitchen, that had happened many times, there was a certain naturalness in such a thing, and it was the same dining table where she had left in sight the scroll that had triggered everything that had happened many months ago. Silence fell, Tenten looked down at the table and began to fiddle with a napkin without seeing him.

"You think the night we had sex was a mistake," the brunette looked up.

"No, I..."

"Tenten," he interrupted her, "it's not a question," she shook her head in affirmation, blushing, "what I want is that you to tell me why."

"Neji..." she put the napkin aside and started caressing her belly, that was her new mantra apparently.

"Do you regret it?"

"No!" she looked him in the eyes, "it's not that..." he held her gaze, "I can't drag you into this," she concluded.

"What?"

"It's not yours, Neji," her hands kept moving on her belly, "I can't ask you to come back with me," his mind repeated the phrase 'come back with me' several times, "and carry something that is not your responsibility, to help me raise a daughter that is not yours," he stood up and walked towards her.

"Tenten," he bent down so he could see her eyes, she was looking at the floor, "please, Tenten," he caressed her cheek, she closed her eyes enjoying the contact, "she will be ours, we will raise her together no matter what."

"It's not fair with you," she opened her eyes, they were getting wet.

"It's not about fairness," he approached her slowly and gave her a short kiss on the lips that wasn't rejected, "it's about having a family with the woman I love," Tenten opened her eyes very wide and gave him a much deeper and demanding kiss.

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Tsunade was furious, when he returned to the barracks at 5am the next day he expected Yamato to call him to his office and reprimand him, but no, it had been personally the Hokage who had been in charge of yelling at him and lecturing him about responsibility. It was a priority to finalize that issue once and for all and she wanted to expedite the signing of the treaty.

He listened to her in silence, keeping his expression impassive to her claims while smiling inside. They had added the couple of hours he had been missing the day he had comforted Tenten after the ultrasound, so he would be assigned a 40-hour shift, from that moment until 9 p.m. the next day, and he had better not run away again! Maybe it wasn't a good time to ask about the procedure for applying for paternity leave when the baby was born.

On his desk were stacked the reports of all the interrogations that had been conducted to date, he had to compare, collate and organize the information to leave a single global report with everything they had discovered, he would easily spend the 40 hours and even more to leave that finalized.

"You are too happy for the punishment they gave you, it seems that they just gave you a reward instead of nailing you to that chair," Shikamaru told him from the door, he only shrugged his shoulders with his eyes fixed on two folders comparing the information, "I guess the baby is evolving well."

"It's a girl, and she's perfectly fine," he answered, he listened as the Nara clicked his tongue and left.

Was he too happy? He was ecstatic. He would pay a thousand hours more if it would give him another day like yesterday. He allowed a part of his mind to wander to that kiss, how Tenten had let him see her completely naked and how he had kissed every nook and cranny of her body without any rush. He had helped her move all the boxes that were stacked in the bedroom that will become the nursery and had listened to all the decorating ideas she had in mind.

He still had yet to ask her why she was crying inconsolably as she left the hospital, but that would wait for now. Starting the evening they were lying on the couch while Tenten rested because her back hurt, he had rested his hand on her belly and they had felt her. The baby had moved! She was going to be his daughter and he feared for any poor soul who dared to say otherwise. Sadly they had said goodbye, it was only going to be one night away from her.

He finished everything after 10 p.m. the next day, he looked proudly at the compendium of sheets on his desk. He had to go to the Hokage residence to deliver it, Tsunade apologized for the severity of the punishment, and thanked him for the commitment he had shown in the months they had been working on it. He nodded and left, now it only remained for the Hokage to complete the peace treaty to be signed. He entered Tenten's home at almost 11 pm, she was waiting for him reading in the living room.

How good it felt to be back home.

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Those last weeks her insomnia problem had finally disappeared and in her ultrasound for the sixth month the issue hadn't appeared, everything was going very well. Too well, she thought for a moment, something bad was going to happen.

And she wasn't wrong, that morning she woke up a little later, her sleep schedule had adapted perfectly to wait up for Neji to come home. Unlike when she went to his apartment, now they didn't go to bed immediately, they took the opportunity to talk and share a little more in their little time together. Although the night before the Hyūga hadn't come to sleep, that wasn't unusual either. A bird was waiting for her at the kitchen window, had it been there long? She was needed in the Hokage's office.

In Tsunade's office she listened carefully to what the woman was explaining trying to make sense of it in her head, it had to be a joke in very bad taste, Neji was in a corner of the office without his mask on, arms crossed and a murderous aura.

"Is this for real?" she finally asked, not sure she understood.

"The humanitarian agreements between the countries," the Hokage began to repeat slowly, "oblige us to grant one last request to the prisoners before they are permanently transferred to the prison," Tsunade paused, "Toshio has asked to speak with you."

"No," she answered.

"Unfortunately it's not negotiable, we have already evaluated all possible options."

"So I can't refuse," she sighed annoyed and resigned, now she understood why Neji hadn't come to sleep and his obvious anger.

"We will give you time to prepare for this, the peace treaty will be signed once this requirement is fulfilled."

"No need," she stood up, "I want to get out of this as soon as possible."

"Understood," Tsunade started walking to lead the way, "we will not leave you alone with him, we will be there for you."

She inhaled deeply as she walked towards the jail cells, she exhaled slowly, one of her symptoms lately was the increase of her blood pressure. Although she was calm and no longer felt lonely as she looked ahead, she felt anxious about the impending conversation that awaited her. Tsunade stopped in front of a door, inserted a key to open it and they entered. Neji remained outside.

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She walked out of the room she had just talked to Toshio in, as soon as she walked through the door she threw herself into Neji's arms looking to let go of the bad time she had just had. She had gotten out of it, she could finally let go of that bad taste in her mouth from her past and close the chapter. He stroked her hair and she lifted her head to give him a kiss, in that moment they were all leaving the room.

Had she just brought them out of the closet?

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

Hope you like it!

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Regards, Sally K.