The Sand Village celebrated a festival for the winter solstice. Gaara invited Tenten to spend the weekend with him on that occasion since it was the most important holiday for the village. Tenten took time off from and joined Gaara for the holiday weekend.
As the Sand's Winter Solstice Festival was approaching, Gaara had another conversation with Shinki. "Son, Tenten will be visiting us for the Winter Solstice Festival. I'd love for all of us to attend the festivities together."
Shinki, in his usual matter-of-fact tone, replied, "Father, I don't think my presence is necessary. The people of the village will be satisfied only seeing you. I will maintain the guard here in the Kazekages's Headquarters."
Gaara placed his hand on his son's shoulder, "Son, I am not asking you to come with me as an official appearance for the Kazekage's office. I am asking you to spend time with me on a special holiday as a family".
"Father… I just don't want to intrude. I know you don't get to see Miss Tenten often".
Gaara looked at his child with all the kindness of his heart and clarified his feelings. "Intrude? Son, you could never intrude. It will make me happy to spend the festivities with you and Tenten".
The day of the festival arrived. Tenten brought presents for Gaara and Shinki. She made them matching father/son scarfs. Both of them thought it would be weird to wear matching clothing, but the effort and dedication that Tenten put in knitting the scarfs touched them. No one has ever taken the time to make such a personal present to either of them.
"I hope you like them. I am still learning how to knit. Hinata will teach me how to make sweaters next time. I hope you like the shade of green that I chose. I thought it would look nice with your brown uniforms and highlight the eye color of both of you."
"Thank you, Tenten! I apologize I did not get a present for you. Here at the Sand Village, it is not a costume to exchange presents on this holiday."
She smiled, "Don't worry about it! My present is to get to see the two most handsome men of the Sand Village wearing the scarfs I made."
Father and son blushed. Gaara was used to people from the Leaf being outgoing and blunt, but it was a newish experience for Shinki.
"Shinki, you still have more presents." Tenten gave him a box of the special dumplings that he liked and an envelope.
"Open the envelope. I know you are not interested in collecting XCards, but I figured you might want to keep these cards".
They were XCards with the images of Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro.
Shinki overjoyed with Tenten's present. Since he learned about the XCards, he wanted to get his father's card. He thought that was the type of thing mothers did for children. Although he did not want to wear matching clothes with his father, he put on the scarf to show his sincere gratitude. Gaara noticed how much the scarf meant to Shinki.
"Thank you, Miss Tenten. No one has ever knitted anything for me. I appreciate the time and care you put on making it. And thank you for the cards. They are my favorite shinobi".
That moment felt that they were a family. Gaara thought that it should be like that every day. Even though his relationship with Tenten had been less than a year, he thought they should get married. He was going to propose to her before the end of her visit.
They went around the village to say hi to the people of the Sand. While they were strolling, the opposing council member, Akifumi, observed them closely. He noticed that the people of the Sand Village seemed to be accepting of the kunoichi of the Leaf Village. They genuinely welcomed her as the Kazekage's "girlfriend." Akifumi was counting on Shinki to oppose the relationship. Still, he saw a boy enjoying the festival with his family, not an ally to the cause trying to break up a relationship. Akifumi needed to act fast before the kunoichi got pregnant, or they got married.
The day after the festival, Gaara had to go back to work. Tenten was going to stay with them for one more day before going back to the Leaf. To thank Tenten for the presents, Shinki invited her to get lunch. They went to a restaurant near the Kazekage's residency. Shinki was a very reserved child but did his best to have a conversation with Tenten. Tenten tried to get to know him better, asking questions about his training.
The conversation progressed well. Tenten was telling a funny story about his father trying to think of a present for Naruto's wedding. She recalled that Kankuro suggested for Gaara to dance the Sand Zamba as a tribute and Gaara considered it for a second. Shinki thought the story was hilarious. He could never imagine his father in that light. Tenten was thrilled with Shinki's invitation and even happier by the lovely conversation they were having. She hoped they could grow closer. They were having an excellent time when they suddenly got interrupted by four masked shinobi with Jonin level skills.
Shinki and Tenten had their backs against each other, trying to defend themselves and protect the bystanders from the masked shinobi. It was clear that the target was Tenten. One of the masked Shinobi attacked Shinki but was careful not to hurt him. At the same time, Tenten was brutally attacked by the other three. They inflicted severe injuries in Tenten. She was profusely bleeding. One of the masked shinobi was about to finish Tenten when soldiers from the Kazekage's force showed up. The masked shinobi escaped to avoid being detained but were positive that their target would not survive. A medical ninja from the Kazekage's force gave Tenten first aid and was able to stabilize her.
Shinki ordered the medics to take Tenten to the Kazekage's residency and sent the most expert team of medical ninja to attend her. When Gaara learned about the incident, he was furious. He sent an elite team to detain the assassins. He would have gone himself but wanted to be close to Tenten. He was raging in anger and was afraid he could not control himself.
Tenten was out of danger, thanks to the medical ninja that provided the first response. She was still unconscious, but the medics predicted she would wake up in a day or so.
The specialized team detained the assassins and transferred them to the Intelligence Unit. The intelligence team was still trying to get more information. So far, they could confirm that the men targeted Tenten because of her relationship with the Kazekage and concern that the Leaf could influence the Kazekage's administration. However, they still could not figure out who ordered the assassination.
The sorrow was consuming Gaara, knowing that due to their relationship Tenten was attacked and almost died. He felt so helpless for not being able to protect her. He felt powerless because the only thing he could do to protect her was to end their relationship. Even if they found the person who ordered the assassination, there were other people associated with the opposition.
The next day, Tenten woke up as the medical ninja predicted. Gaara ran to her room as soon as he was informed. He waited outside for the medical ninja to finish checking Tenten.
"Miss Tenten, you are fortunate. You are completely out of danger and healing quickly. And I have two good news for you". The medical ninja continued checking her vital signs, "You are pregnant, and your baby is fine. Your injuries did not affect the baby".
Tenten could not believe what she was hearing. For a second, she thought that she was still dreaming. "Pregnant? Wow, that is something I was not expecting, but they are great news. Please don't mention it to anyone. I would like to tell them myself."
After the medical ninja left, Gaara went inside Tenten's room. She looked very happy for someone who almost died. Gaara could not help but smiled when seeing her like that.
Tenten was too excited to see Gaara. She could not content herself and wanted to scream the news. "Hi, Gaara! I am so happy to see you. We need to talk".
Gaara had so much peace seeing her like that, "I am so glad you are fine. The medical ninja said that you should recover without any problems. I have already contacted the Leaf and told them about your status. They said to take as many days as you need to recover".
He tenderly held her hand and kissed it. His smile disappeared, and he put on a stern face. "I also need to talk to you."
His face concerned Tenten. She didn't know what would be so terrible to make him look like that.
"I still don't know who ordered your assassination, but I got confirmation that you were the target because of our relationship. The opposition believes our relationship has political implications to benefit the Leaf".
"That is ridiculous. Naruto would give me more days off to be here if that was the case, hahaha".
She laughed, but Gaara was still very pensive.
"I can't put you in danger. If something happened to you because of me, I could never forgive myself. Tenten, you have made me feel a love that I never thought I could experience. I will forever be grateful for every moment we shared."
Tenten's face got somber, "Are you breaking up with me?"
"Yes. It is the only way to protect you."
Now upset, Tenten replied, "I don't need to be protected. I am a seasoned shinobi who can protect herself. Break up with me if you don't want to be with me anymore".
Gaara could not look at her in the eyes. It took everything in him to tell her, "I don't want to be with you anymore because I can expose you to danger."
She felt that tears were forming in her eyes, but she was determined to hold them. "It hurts to lose you because of this."
"It hurts me too, but I will find peace knowing you are safe." He walked toward the door to leave, "Please stay as much as you need. When you are ready to go back to the Leaf, I will have guards escort you back to the village".
With a defying look, Tenten responded, "Thank you, but it is not necessary. I am not a delicate princess that needs to be protected. I am a shinobi. Thank you for your hospitality. I will leave as soon as I can walk".
Before he exited the room, he remembered she said they needed to talk. "You said you needed to talk to me about something?"
"It was nothing… Don't worry about it."