Gaara and Tenten continued seeing each other as they did before. They saw each other every time Tenten had an assignment in the Sand Village or days off, and when Gaara had to go to the Leaf Village on Kage's business. They missed each other a lot, which made them cherish even more those few times they had to see each other.
After the first time they spent the night together, every time that Tenten stayed at the Kazekage's residency, Gaara spent the night in her room. His guards knew what to do those nights to protect Gaara's privacy.
However, one of the guards was an informant infiltrated by one of the council members that opposed Gaara, Lord Akifumi. Lord Akifumi was concerned with the influence that Leaf Village had over. He found Gaara's relationship with the Leaf kunoichi to be troublesome. After learning that Gaara spent every night with her, he was concerned that she could get pregnant, fortifying more the alliance with the Leaf. He was going to take matters into his own hands.
Lord Akifumi also learned that young Shinki felt uneasy about his father's new romantic relationship. He verbally expressed his support for his father's decisions, but people around could tell that the relationship worried Shinki. He was planning to recruit Shinki as an ally in his quest to break Gaara's romance.
Lord Akifumi managed to run into Shinki outside of the Kazekage's office.
"Young Lord, what a pleasure to run into you this morning. If you don't mind me asking, I heard your father is quite fond of a Leaf kunoichi, how do you feel about it?"
Shinki was annoyed by the question. He wondered why Akifumi felt that it was okay for him to question him on his father's private life. "My father's personal life is private. In any case, I have full trust in his decisions."
"Of course, young Lord. I couldn't agree more. I just brought it up because if they married, that would signify a drastic change for your family. They could even have other heirs…"
Shinki, while upset, but still polite, responded, "I apologize, but I am running late for a mission. If you have more concerns about my father's private life, I suggest you address them with him directly."
Lord Akifumi was furious, hearing the boy speak to him like that. Although Shinki had many concerns, he sensed Akifumi's dubious intentions.
Gaara had addressed his relationship with Tenten to his son early on when they started getting more involved. Kankuro thought that Shinki was concerned by the possibility of having another person in Gaara's life was going to take away from their family.
Graciously, Gaara addressed his son's concerns and explained that Tenten was not the kind of person to take away from their family; she was the type of person that will bring more to their family.
Gaara had a meeting scheduled to meet the Hokage in the Leaf Village. He traveled with Shinki for this meeting since he wanted Shinki to become more familiar with diplomatic affairs. Gaara and Tenten had planned to have lunch after the meeting and for Gaara to take the late afternoon train back to the Sand Village.
Tenten was very excited to see Gaara and planned to make lunch for him and Shinki. She was not the most gifted cook, but she wanted to make something special for her guests. She asked Hinata for help with lunch ideas. Hinata remembered the first meal that she made for Naruto. It was back when they were genin and went on a mission together. She made rice balls with Naruto's face on them. Tenten thought that was a great idea and invested many hours making the rice balls with Gaara and Shinki's faces.
In the Hokage's office, Gaara was worried because the meeting was running past its scheduled time. As soon as it was over, father and son made it to Tenten's home. She had a medium size apartment nicely decorated with her weapon collection and some flowers. The apartment represented Tenten's personality well. Tenten was happy to see both of them and warmly welcomed them into her home. She tried to start a conversation with Shinki, but he would just politely reply with short answers.
"You guys must be hungry. Please come sit".
She made a fish dish since it was something hard to find in the Sand Village, vegetables, and rice balls with Gaara and Shinki's faces. She was very proud of the rice balls that she made with Hinata's help. Both of her guests looked confused, and it took them a second to realize that it was their faces. Tenten was not the most artistic, but she tried her best.
"I see it now. That is my face," Gaara laughed. "I can't believe you made this. It might have taken you many hours of work".
Shinki didn't know what to say; he thought, 'She thinks I am a child' but responded. "Thank you for lunch, Miss Tenten."
Once again, Tenten tried to start a conversation with Shinki. "So Shinki, what do you like to do in your free time when you are not on a mission?"
"I study."
Shinki responded in a dry tone, still polite, but not inviting for follow up questions.
"You are so responsible. What do you study?"
"History."
Gaara noticed that Shinki was not being the best conversationalist and tried to help out. "Shinki is very interested in the Land of Wind's history and geography. I am glad he enjoys learning about these topics. They will make him a better leader for our village".
The conversation continued when Shinki pointed out that it was almost time for their train. Since they were running late from the meeting with the Hokage, they did not have much time left.
"Why don't you stay tonight, and then you can take the first train tomorrow morning?" Tenten suggested. "My guest room is ready for you two."
Gaara agreed to stay over and contacted Kankuro to cover for him in case of an emergency.
Since they had the rest of the afternoon available, they decided to go to the movies. Tenten was relieved that they picked that activity since they did not have to talk. She was trying to speak to Shinki, but he seemed uninterested. In the movies, she could hold hands with Gaara and not have to worry about making conversation.
Back at Tenten's apartment, "I imagined that you would miss the train, so I got you pajamas, toothbrushes, and underwear for you two."
Gaara held her hand in a gratitude gesture, "Thank you for thinking of everything," while Shinki thought in a little of horror (he is a tween boy), 'I can believe she got me underwear.'
"I got an amazing set of pj's for you, Shinki. I was not sure what you like, but I thought these were funny".
'She thinks I like" funny" clothing,' Shinki thought.
His expressionless face changed to confused/horrified tween expression when Tenten showed him the pajamas she got for him. They were a simple set, shorts, and a t-shirt, except that the t-shirt had a caricature of the One-Tailed beast on it. "That is Master Shukaku."
Tenten noticed his facial expression. She picked it, hoping he would find it funny too, but she made a mistake.
"I am so sorry. I thought you might like it. Here there are a lot of products for children with the Tailed Beasts. I apologize, I should have picked something more neutral. I will go to the store to get you something else. I will be back in 30 minutes".
Shinki brought himself back from the horror of the pajamas. He didn't want to be rude or ungrateful. "I am sorry, Miss Tenten. I apologize for how I reacted. It just took me by surprise. We don't have clothing like this back home. Thank you for letting us stay the night and preparing everything for us."
Shinki excused himself to take a shower and prepare for bed, leaving the couple alone in the living room.
"I screwed up. How could I be so dumb? He is not a child anymore. I should not have let Himawari pick those pajamas. No wonder he doesn't want to talk to me. He thinks I am a lame old lady that treats him as a child".
Gaara put his arm around her to comfort her. "Tenten, please don't say that. I thought the pajamas were funny. They might not be his style, but they are still nice. Thank you for thinking of everything."
"I still feel like I failed."
Gaara held her even tighter, "You have not. I am looking forward to seeing Shinki wearing those pajamas."
He kissed her to make her forget about the pj's fail, which reminded him about the sleeping arrangements. "By the way, you sent me to the guest room."
Tenten laughed, "Don't take it in the wrong way. I was not sure how much Shinki knows about our relationship. I just did not want to make it awkward for him".
Gaara kissed her some more, "You are truly a wonderful woman. Thank you for being so kind to my son".
After they all went to bed, Tenten was trying to think in ways that he could get closer to Shinki. The topic was not letting her sleep, so she went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. Shinki was in the kitchen having a glass of water.
"I am sorry for disturbing your sleep. I just needed some water."
"No worries! I was awake. Would you prefer a cup of tea? I was going to make some for myself".
Shinki accepted because he did not want to be rude. He sat with Tenten while they were waiting for the water to boil.
Apologizing again, Tenten broke the silence. "Sorry for the PJs. I don't know what you like. I wish I could get to know you better".
Shinki could see that Tenten was sincere and genuinely saddened by how he reacted when she was trying to do something kind for him. "Please, Miss Tenten, forgive me for making a fuss." He continued in a kinder tone than the other times he spoke to her, "There is not much to know about me."
"Your dad always talks about you. He is so proud of you. When he starts talking about you, his eyes have a special shine on them".
Shinki was not surprised by the comment. He knew how his father felt about him, but it warmed his heart, knowing that he told that to Tenten.
"You are his joy and pride. Seeing him love you that much makes me fall in love with him even more".
"Are you in love with my father?"
"I can't believe I said that to you, but yes. I am very in love with him," Tenten blushed and timidly smiled.
Shinki worried about her intentions. This time was his chance to ask, "I am certain you are aware of his past… you don't mind?"
"That was a long time ago when he was a boy. I am in love with the man of today. That poor, lonely boy made the wonderful man of today. Every day your dad works for your village to make up for his misguided actions when he was a boy. I respect that."
"Are you going to marry my dad?"
Tenten almost spat the tea from the impression of that question. "We have not talked about it."
"If you get married, do you want to have children?"
Tenten's face got even redder with that question. "Maybe, that is an essential conversation that one day we might have." She asked him, "Would you like any siblings?"
He took a few seconds to think. "Oh… I don't know. I think so. Like my father has my uncle and aunt."
Finally, the water was ready, and they moved to talk about lighter topics like how Metal was doing and how hard Guy sensei's training was.
Shinki went to bed feeling different about Tenten. He felt her kindness and sincerity when confessing her love for his father. Reflecting on the whole visit, there were many things that he appreciated about Tenten. Although he thought that the rice balls with his face were childish, no one has ever taken the time to do something like that for him. The tail beast pajamas were too much for him, but no one had ever gone shopping for him, trying to buy something to make him smile. Even though Tenten failed with the option she picked, Shinki understood the gesture behind. She was genuinely kind to him. Not saying that his father and uncle were not the most dedicated to Shinki, but it was different the way Tenten showed her kindness. He thought it was because maybe her actions were like things that mothers did.