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Translation editing - Pink Shirt - thank you yet again!

Warning for slightly more sexual content.

A Game For Two

Tenten was standing in front of Konoha's gate once more, preparing to start her three-day trip to Suna. This time there were just four of them - Temari, Shikamaru, Kankuro and herself.

She had taken the rest of her belongings as she knew Suna was going to be her new permanent home, with the person she loved with all her heart. But she was going to come back to Konoha in two months to attend Temari and Shikamaru's wedding. For a reason she wasn't aware of, Tsunade-sama had insisted for the wedding to be held as soon as possible. It was related to the chuunin's exams, which were moved half a year earlier. They didn't really have a choice than to comply…

A lot of Tenten and Shikamaru friends had come to send them off. This time Tenten was almost happy to leave - it was enough for her to look at Kankuro to verify one more time, her decision to stay by his side was right. She looked at his smiling face and felt little butterflies in her stomach and chest right away.

"Thank you all for coming here this morning." she said and slightly bowed.

"It is nice, even though you didn't have to do it." Shikamaru added, thanking them in his weird way.

Temari silently bowed and smiled friendly to the rest of the women. Surprisingly she let Ino hug her.

Kankuro grinned and waved goodbye. Then he turned around and while passing Tenten, he grabbed her backpack and set it on his back.

"Come on, let's go. It is about time." He said and without even turning back, he headed down the road.

The rest of the group crossed gazes, then they followed him.

Kankuro was recovering really fast. There was nothing left of his muscle pain. His sight was clear almost all the time - it was rare to become dizzy and the colours were bright as ever. His manhood's functionality has returned two weeks after he left the hospital. Tenten was surprised because of it but she was in no case disappointed. The sex was a new and exciting experience and it( is )was with the person she loved and desired the most. It had turned into sustained longing, resembling a drug. She knew that the sexual desire would fade away till some degree in the future. But from the way Temari and Shikamaru gazed at each other sometimes, she could only guess the "fading away" part would need some time.

When she was going through her belongings a few days earlier, she found Hinata's memory book. And she had insisted on starting to fill it in together. Kankuro didn't see much sense in the action as he preferred to gather the memories in his mind and live through them all over again, though he eventually succumbed. Tenten had told him it was a way to cherish the moments when they would be old and not in a full possession of their faculties. Or if one of them died sooner, the other one would have had a dear memory to hold onto.

"What if both of us died sooner than later? What would become of that so-called dear memory?" Kankuro smiled.

"Then it will stay to give hope to unknown shinobies that true love can sometimes happen under unusual circumstances. If it gives hope to even only one shinobi, its writing won't be meaningless.." she had been smiling back, convincing him it may be worth it.

They were slowly walking on the road, still taking turns on duty. They didn't want to become victims of ill-willed shinobies. The time was passing by unnoticed. When the sun started descending to the west, all of the four decided it would be way more comfortable to sleep in one of the villages they used to pass by than making a forest camp. So they just took the road to the closest one adding a few hours to the overall travel.

When they arrived in the village, Temari led them through the small streets until they reached one little and pretty hostel. It was located away from the bars and the gambling places - it was calm, nice and very clean. She entered confidently and smiled at the elder woman behind the bar.

"Temari-san! I am so happy to see you! You haven't been around for quite some time!" she said with a kind smile, obviously happy to see Temari for real.

"Yes, that's right. Recently a lot of things happened…all of them kind of weird…" Temari nodded.

"What have you been doing in the village? Are you just passing by on the way to Konoha?"

"Nope, this time I am coming from Konoha. I am going home."

"Home is always nice." the woman nodded. "Are you spending the night here?"

"We are all spending the night here." She pointed at the rest of the group with a slight nod. They, on the other hand, were staying silent.

"I see…" She opened her big guest's book and grinned. "How many rooms would you need?"

"Two would be enough."

"All right. I have a bright room on the second floor." She said, then she looked at the two men. "To your teammates I could offer a room on the first floor. Each room has a bathroom, of course."

They crossed gazes, but no one said a word until Shikamaru stepped forward with hands tucked in his pockets.

"As much as I am convinced I would have a good time spent with Kankuro, when it comes to sleeping in the same room, I definitely prefer my woman." He shrugged indifferently.

The woman blinked against them, not understanding.

"I can only agree with you, Shikamaru." Kankuro nodded.

Temari apologetically smiled.

"I am sorry, I should have been a bit more specific. We would like two rooms for couples."

The woman sized them up with a critical gaze, then spoke with a serious tone, a bit sharp even…

"Temari-san, you are way aware this place is respected and we do not tolerate this kind of… random relationships. Maybe I should ask you to look for another establishment in the other village area that suits your purposes…

Temari was smiling all the time but now started to frantically wave a hand before her face,trying to explain…

"That's why I really like that place. Thank you for keeping your standards high, Kita-san." She said, bowing politely. "That is my brother and his wife." She pointed at Kankuro and Tenten.

The woman lightened up and carefully looked up at Kankuro.

"You do look alike!" Then she leaned to Temari over the bar and asked conspiratorially while shamelessly gazing at Shikamaru. "Is this one your husband, Temari-san?"

Temari nodded with the cutest smile and proudly showed her ring.

"Your kids are going to be so cute!" She winked to the young woman and handed over two room keys. "There you go, third flood, rooms 303 and 307. I hope you have a good rest." She smiled and turned her attention to another client, who had just entered the door.

Temari passed one of the keys to Tenten and sighed.

"I intend to take a long bath. I will see you at dinner." She waved goodbye while climbing up the stairs.

"Bath does sound great." Kankuro nodded with a mischievous smile on his lips.

Tenten frowned at him.

"It sounds great with no doubt though I intend to have a walk. So if you feel like taking a bath, please, be my guest…" She offered him the key and gave him an exaggerated smile.

Kankuro shook his head, smiling slightly, grabbed her hand and pulled her out on the street. Shikamaru took a deep breath and followed them slowly, hands stuck in his pockets. He knew what Temari really wanted was exactly that - long bath, it was not an invitation for sex. That would eventually come later on… Meantime he could just take a walk and stare aimlessly around. After the first available turn, he picked a different direction than Kankuro and Tenten. They both have noticed his presence and later his absence, though none of them said anything about it.

Tenten started to actually relax and have fun looking at the colourful world around them. There were many people on the streets and they were so damn noisy. And no one paid them any attention. There were so many young couples, they were just one of the many. No one knew them nor was interested in who they were or where they were from.

"It is nice, isn't it?" Kankuro asked suddenly.

"Yes… If I retire someday from being a shinobi, I would live like that, actually." she confessed.

He smiled and looked around. They could relax and do all of the simple things a young couple could possibly do. There were even field games like ring-throwing, hitting little metal pandas that appeared randomly from holes in a board and many others… There were also so many tasty-looking sweets and a lot of flowers everywhere…

"Do you want to play?" He asked, nodding to the rings.

Tenten looked at him as if he lost his mind.

"There is no way you could beat me in that game, you know that," she said.

Kankuro felt a light hit on his ego. He knew she was precise but how precise could she actually be? He was also shinobi and she shouldn't have underestimated him, right?

"Hm… But I certainly don't like losing. Let's set up a condition to make it more interesting."

"Kankuro, didn't you hear me?! There is no way you can beat me in this game." She waved a hand in front of his eyes to force him pay some attention to her words. He really didn't want to hear her. Well, then… ok. He brought it upon himself…

"Five games," he announced. "The winner can dispose of the loser as one wishes." Tenten looked at him with a doubt. "If you win, I am going to do whatever you want when we go back being alone, just the two of us." He grinned and she blushed.

"So what you say is you are not going to do something I want if I don't beat you here?" Nonetheless her face colour, she still looked him straight in the eyes.

"Nope… I have had something in mind for some time now." He smiled impishly at her.

"And this is something I am not going to agree to?" She sounded genuinely surprised.

"Maybe… We haven't really commented on it. I have no idea how you would react in the first place."

"It sounds like you are almost sure I am not going to like your idea."

"Well… Technically it is possible."

"So you think if you beat me, which is not happening by the way, you would kind of force me to agree to something, I wouldn't comply in other circumstances?" Her hands had gone to her waist and she had leaned threateningly to him.

Kankuro seemed confused for the time being. Puting it this way… He saw himself as quite a sneaky bastard and had serious doubts about his way of acting. Maybe he should first tell her about it and hear what she thinks.

He sighed and attempted to tell her how wrong this whole idea was, when he realised she was already buying tickets for five games.

"Tenten…"

She turned around and handed him the rings.

She was purely pissed off. If he wanted something out of her, he should have just shared it with her and the decision should have been hers. This way of acting was almost sneaky… Though he was not going to win anyway…

Then she thought of what exactly she could make him do for her when she wins. An idea appeared in her head. It was something she was still too embarrassed to ask him to was almost certain he wouldn't say no, though , but this bet gave her an advantage.

"I have no idea what you have in mind, but it is not happening." She stated. "You are losing. And you are going to be my slave for the night." She grinned and after she actually realised how that had sounded, she flushed quite a bit.

Kankuro on the other hand kept his appearance well and calm. He leaned to her ear and whispered: "I know that was not your initial purpose, but that actually sounded really exciting…"

"You are weird, you know that?" she hissed, causing him to laugh.

The games were done pretty quickly. Tenten lost only the first one because she let herself be distracted. Kankuro knew she was good at throwing weapons, but he didn't have a clue she was that good at the matter. When she succeeded to focus after the first loss, she didn't have a single miss.

"I told you…" she shrugged, "This is a game you don't stand a chance."

"We will see about that. I am certain I will come up with something to compensate for my wounded ego." He dramatically placed a hand on his forehead, and both of them burst in laughter.

The evening came up to be very pleasant. They went around the little streets, watching the street stage plays, playing some of the other field games, they kept laughing a lot as well. They were laughing so much, Tenten felt pain in her cheeks from the permanent wide smile she had on.

When it got dark, they headed back to the hostel for their scheduled dinner with Temari and Shikamaru.

Tenten was really nervous, her palms were sweaty. Some time ago Ino had said how much the men liked that… Sakura was so helpful to share some details when they happened to be alone, but anyway she had to try out for herself and decide if it is something she would repeat in the first place. And also she needed to know if Kankuro was in the group that liked it…

She had insisted they both get a bath, but on their own. Now she was waiting for Kankuro to be done bathing and come to her, she felt gradually more and more nervous though.

Kankuro opened the door and entered the room… and stopped dead in his tracks - Tenten was sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed only in the delicate nightgown they received from Ino for the wedding. The man was completely naked, so his reaction to the view was visible and immediate. He stepped forward, but Tenten raised her hand, ordering him to stop.

"You haven't forgotten I am in charge tonight, right?" she asked.

"Nope…" he shook his head.

"Good…" She got up and walked to him. "I have something in mind… Maybe it would sound weird to you because I have no idea if anyone else had asked you to do that… And also I am not confident it is in the frames of…"

"Tenten…" he chuckled. "Don't apologise. Tell me what you want me to do. And if it is not life-threatening or something that would hurt any of us, I am going to do it. I trust you."

Tenten nodded, stopping on a step away from him.

"I want to see…the way you touch yourself." She breathed out with red cheeks.

"You want me…to masturbate in front of you?" he said with a serious face.

"Look…" she slightly turned away, feeling uneasy. "Since we went to the next level and started to have sex, you are the one with the knowledge and the experience." She explained. "You make me feel…wonderful," she confessed quietly, causing him a pleased smile. "I also want to be able to touch you in a way to bring you pleasure. In order to do it, I thought the best way is to actually see what you do, how you touch yourself. In the end you are the only person who knows for certain what brings you pleasure, right?" She was doing her best to look calm, but her eyes were stubbornly digging in the floor and her sides were quite flushed.

"I understand now," he said quietly.

"Will you do it?" she asked and looked at him for just a brief moment.

"It is not not life-threatening and it is not going to hurt any of us, so as I see it, I don't really have an excuse not to do it." He shrugged.

"All right." She smiled slightly, feeling a bit bolder. "I am going to help you start then," she whispered and grabbed his hand, pulling him carefully to the bed.

Tenten placed her hands on his shoulders and tenderly pressed down to show him she wanted him to sit. Kankuro complied and sat down on the edge of the bed. The situation was a bit weird, especially as he saw how uneasy the whole thing was for her. Then she did something even more unexpected - she pulled out a delicate scarf from under the pillow and attempted to reach his face.

"You are going to blind-fold me?" he asked, surprised.

"That's my intention, yes." She nodded. "Do you mind?"

"Well, I do prefer to see what's going on around me…" he confessed.

"I am sorry, but today you will have to trust me. This is not life-threatening nor something that would hurt any of us."

Kankuro bursted out laughing - she just had used his very words against him in the best way. He nodded and let her wrap the scarf around his head and over his eyes.

"All right…" he sighed. "I will need some time to get in the correct mood." Tenten looked down and understood what he meant.

"Would you like some help with it?" she asked, feeling even bolder than before as he couldn't see her.

The man nodded. Tenten caressed his bare shoulder gently and leaned to him, biting his ear lobe. He took a sharp breath…

"This is so going to work…" he whispered.

When his erection was fully back, Tenten pulled back. It was more than awkward but according to her, that was the way for her to see exactly what he liked. She was watching his hands moving carefully, paying attention to where his fingers passed and how fast they did. The only thing left unclear was about the pressure she had to add, the rest wasn't a secret anymore.

When she felt confident enough, she kneeled in front of him and placed her palms on his forearms, making him stop. She tenderly pulled his arms away and set them to the both sides of his body.

"Tenten…?" he asked hoarsely.

"Shhh…" she whispered, lightly touching his lips with her pointer. "Do you trust me?"

"Isn't my voluntary obedience proof of that?" he chuckled with some irony in his tone.

She smiled and placed her hands slowly where his hands were just a few moments ago. The man's pleased growl, simultaneous with her action, showed her she was on the right track. Her hands and fingers copied exactly his movements from before and judging by his reactions, she could see he was enjoying it. In about a minute, she felt the change of tension. His breathing had become ragged and shallow, his hands were clenching so hard the bed's edge, his knuckles had turned white. When she noticed this, she decided it was about time for the last thing she wanted to try. Tenten leaned forward and gently placed her lips on him - his reaction of surprise was so strong and sudden, she flinched.

"I am sorry…" she whispered. "I thought you may like it…"

"I did like it…" he replied, trying hard to get a decent breath. "I liked it a bit too much… I almost…"

"I know…" she interrupted him. "And even if you did, it was going to be fine…"

Tenten changed her mind, got up and undressed the only cloth on her body, barely covering a thing. Then she delicately pushed the man backwards until he was steadily laying on the bed. She leaned down and kissed him with all the tenderness and love she was capable of. Meanwhile she untied the scarf and let him open his eyes. When she raised her hip only to descend it on his thighs, he smiled softly.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"I think I may start liking losing to you…"

Tenten smiled back.

A bit later she let him take the lead and she didn't regret it at all. With a satisfied sigh she relaxed on the pillow and allowed Kankuro to hold her. She settled comfortably in his arms and fell into a blissful sleep.

Kankuro sensed her steady breathing and chuckled. She was still shy, but her desire to experiment was charming him. He caressed her hair and kissed her cheek, then he laid down, hugging her tightly, and fell soundly asleep.

The next day the four of them voted again for night in beds instead of sleeping on the ground.

On the last evening before they reached Suna, they picked up a little inn near the main road. Unluckily the only available room was one room with 3 beds. They would not be able to indulge in intimacy but the bed was a bed, it was not the hard ground.

The four of them were sitting around the farest table and having dinner. When in the inn a family entered with three children- two around 4 and the other around 10. Temari unwillingly stopped talking and was just staring at the children.

"Temari?" Shikamaru called her, expecting her answer on a certain matter. When she didn't react, he followed her gaze and maybe Tenten imagined it, but she thought she saw him blush for just a moment. "Temari."

Temari turned to him with raised eyebrows.

"Isn't it a bit early to think about that?" he nodded towards the children and she bristled.

"Shikamaru! Of course it is early, it is just… I don't know… they were playing and looked cute." She shrugged.

Kankuro chuckled - his sister and Shikamaru started a little argument and completely ignored him and Tenten. He leaned ahead to Tenten's ear: "What do you think about it?"

She didn't need any extra explanation.

"It would be nice.. In a further moment." She smiled slightly. "It is not something I want at any cost." Her fingers gently caressed his palm. "And considering the Hokage prognosis, it is not wise to be too hopeful about it. I want to be with you, to get old together with you. This is what is important to me."

"I honestly feel some guilt." he smiled sheepishly. "I put you in a situation that if you say you want a child…"

She cut him out: "I have already told you my opinion on this matter," she pursed her lips. "It hasn't changed. With or without a child, I am staying by your side."

"And I am really grateful about that." He lifted her hand and kissed her virtuously. "When it was a matter of choice, I told myself it is not important. Now, when I know it has a low chance of happening, I feel somehow… sad."

"Do you want a kid, Kankuro?" she whispered in his ear.

"In a further moment I actually do. Yes, certainly I want a kid."

Tenten laughed and shrugged.

"Well, if it is yours, I wouldn't give up on him…"

"On her." Kankuro corrected her.

"What?" she didn't get it right away.

"As rarely as I have been thinking about this, I have always known if there was a child, it should be a daughter."

"Daughter, eh?" Tenten chuckled.

In the next moment they both sensed the very intense gazes of Temari and Shikamaru.

"Are you… pregnant?" Temari asked quietly.

"Nope." Tenten said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She shrugged. "I am convinced I am not."

Temari nodded understandingly. Kankuro and Shikamaru crossed gazes and shrugged…