A/N:

La-la-la, here is the chapter! Oh my GOSH I take so long to update and I am so sorry :( I really have no excuse. Except I was working quite a lot and I had no brain power left! But here we are now. I hope you enjoy this little installment!

Tenten couldn't remember the last time she'd been so homesick.

Perhaps it was because she'd lived alone since she was ten, or maybe because she had no real family to speak of. When she traveled she was usually with friends, so homesickness was never a thing she had to struggle with.

Now she was longing to be back in Konoha. She missed her tiny apartment and her full-sized bed. She missed home-cooked meals and she missed her teammates.

She was lying wide awake in bed, staring up at the dark ceiling and breathing deeply in an attempt to soothe herself to sleep. She'd just jolted herself out of a nightmare that she could hardly remember, and an unsettling feeling had rested itself deep within her gut. What was wrong with her?

Tenten was not a quitter. She'd been on plenty of long-term missions, and while she had experienced the fear and weariness that came along with the heat of battle, she'd never felt so burnt out. The other day she'd felt as if they were on the verge on some sort of breakthrough. She'd been convinced that they would get some answers from Yuki Tendo, but since that visit they had been dragging.

The past few days had been uneventful. The shinobi had mostly hung around the hotel, keeping their ears open for any rumors or information that could lead them somewhere new. They had little to no luck. Shino now had kikkai in every corner of the building and they were always wandering around and exploring at every chance they got.

Tenten was talking to anyone who she could wrangle into a conversation, but her individual efforts had been fruitless. No one ever let anything slip that could provide them with a lead.

Worst of all, they had to face the possibility that Suki and Jin had nothing to do with their mystery. Even Shino agreed that there was a chance that the pair didn't know anything about the missing team… which meant that they had been wasting their time.

She'd gone over it in her mind a thousand times. The team from Suna had been deployed on this mission four months ago. Haru Tendo had died four months ago. Jin and Suki had arrived four months ago.

It couldn't just be a coincidence, could it?

"Tenten," a voice sounded from the floor. She jumped at the unexpected noise.

"You're awake?" she asked Shino, turning over and peering down at him on the floor. She couldn't be sure if his eyes were open or not since he was still wearing glasses.

"Yes."

"Me too."

"I can hear you thinking."

Had he just cracked a joke? She couldn't help but like his dry delivery. She chuckled. "Do I think that loud?" She could have sworn that he'd smiled, but it was too dark to know for sure.

"You are thinking about our mission." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah. Are you?"

"Yes."

They sat silently for a few moments. She felt relieved that he was awake, too. It made the night seem a little less isolated and lonely. "I think I want to get out of here. Out of this hotel room, that is," she said quickly, not wanting him to think that she was still wanting to go home. She did, but he didn't need to know that. Even she wanted to forget that she'd ever suggested it.

"Perhaps we can go out in the morning," he replied. She could detect a tiny hint of fatigue in his voice.

"If we do, we could explore around the residential area. Just away from the town, you know? It's so loud out there." She paused and they both listened; there was, in fact, ambient noise coming from outside. The red light district never slept.

Shino took a moment to consider suggestion. He wasn't sure that he wanted to wander too far from the Main Inn because there was still a chance that they could make some sort of investigative breakthrough. On the other hand, it had been days since they'd spent a significant about of time outside. They had been diligently gathering intelligence over the past few days with no results. Even he, who could be perfectly content just sitting and thinking, was getting bored.

Not to mention Tenten, who was clearly an active, outdoorsy person. She was probably aching to go out into the sun and stretch her muscles. He knew for a fact that she'd been having a difficult time since their ill-fated visit to the shrine—perhaps it wouldn't hurt to walk around outside in the sun for a little while.

"We will go."

"Yes!" she whispered from her place above him. "Thank you, Shino!"

"You're… welcome," he said, unsure of why she was thanking him but feeling good about it all the same.

"I'm going to actually try and sleep now," she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "Good night."

"Good night."

They started out late in the morning and walked in companionable silence. They took the same road they'd used days before to reach Yuki's house, but they made a few turns to take themselves in another direction. It went without saying that they did not want to visit the shrine again.

Tenten sighed and felt herself smiling. She just couldn't help it; it felt like ages since she'd just been outside just for the sake of it. It was a cool day, but she sun still warmed her face. She couldn't help but admire the trees along the side of the dirt road they were walking on. The leaves were mostly green but some were beginning to turn yellow and orange.

The slight incline they were navigating ended and Tenten was immensely pleased to see a tiny lake surrounded by trees and tall grass. It wasn't really even a lake, really—just a big pond. "Hey, wanna stop here for lunch?" she asked. He followed close behind her as she made her way toward the trees and stopped in a spot where the ground looked dry.

They had a peaceful lunch of the dumplings and fried rice they'd bought from a food vendor in the town square. Shino watched her discreetly as she munched on dumplings and licked the grease off her fingers. He wondered why he didn't find that disgusting—when Kiba did it he could barely watch.

"This is how lunch should be eaten," she was saying between bites. "Outside after a long walk. Mmm, these are so good!"

"Agreed," he replied, genuinely glad to see her enjoying herself. He hadn't realized it before now, but her restlessness had affected him. He could feel her relief as if it were his own.

She finished her meal quickly and felt stuffed. With a sigh, she leaned back into the soft grass and let her stomach digest. She closed her eyes as a warm breeze blew through the trees and cooled the sweat off her brow.

She felt a rustling beside her and opened her eyes to see Shino lying down in his spot, somewhat close beside her but still at a safe distance.

"It looked enjoyable," he said after a moment, answering her unasked question. She gave him a brilliant smile and looked up at the tree they were under, admiring the light that was dappling through the leaves.

"This is what I like to do at home on my days off," she said with a sigh. "Just eat and then lie in the sun. Maybe take a nap."

"Do you do this often?" he asked, imagining her in Konoha by the river. He wished he'd have known sooner, actually—he'd always prided himself on being observant and knowing who his peers were, but for some reason she'd never crossed his line of sight. It was unfortunate, but thankfully it was an issue easily resolved.

"Not as much as I'd like," she sighed. "It's better when you have someone with you, like this. But people get busy, schedules don't sync up, you know how it is. How about you?"

"Me?" The question had actually surprised him.

"Yeah. What do you do in your free time?" she asked, turning her head so she could look at him. The question was reminiscent of their small talk while she'd been 'training' him to get used to her touch. He fought a blush.

"I meditate in my free time," he replied honestly. "Or I study insects and flowers."

"That's actually kind of interesting," she said. A little bit of shifting, and she was lying on her side, supporting her head with her hand and staring straight into his sunglasses. "Hey, are you one of those people who pins bugs to a board to look at them?"

Shino actually felt sick at the prospect. "Absolutely not," he replied, unable to imagine doing such a thing.

"Good," she chuckled. "Because that would be a little… weird."

It was more than weird, in his opinion, but he said nothing. He was actually kind of impressed though, that she hadn't been grossed when he'd told her he liked to study bugs—he'd never forgotten how Ino Yamanaka had made fun of him when she'd found about it. To her credit, though, they had only been six at the time. Still, the memory had a deep impact.

He glanced over to his companion to see that she had something in her hand. It glittered in the sunlight; a thin, silvery pinpoint in the form of a senbon. "This is the other thing I do in my free time." With a flick of her slender wrist, it rocketed straight up into the tree to hit a mustard yellow leaf. It came straight back down and she caught it smoothly between two fingers. "Ooh, got it," she said with a smirk.

She was such a talented undercover agent that he had almost forgotten her other title: Weapon's Mistress.

"I've been wondering how you are with weapons," she said casually, turning the tiny knife to watch it sparkle in the light.

"You have?" It was a surprise that she wondered about him at all outside the context of their mission. What had motivated her to think of him?

He watched as her face flushed a little. "Well, I mean, you just look like you have the dexterity for it, is all."

"I, along with all of our peers, have weapons handling experience."

"Well, duh," she replied good-naturedly. "Here, just try it. I'm curious to know how accurate you are." She waved the senbon in front of him.

"I am sufficiently accurate," he said, not seeing the need to take her up on her challenge.

"C'mon, we'll have a bet. If you hit that leaf," she pointed up into the tree at a big yellow spot, "you win and I'll get you… hm, I'll get you lunch when all this is over. Vice-versa if you can't get it."

"You already owe me one souvenir. Are you sure you're prepared to take on more debt?"

She snorted and laughed out loud. "You're confident, aren't you?" He took the senbon delicately out of her hand and focused his eyes on the target. Truthfully, he wasn't sure he could hit such a tiny object from here lying down. She wasn't a weapons expert for no reason, and he was sure she believed she was making a safe bet.

So instead of throwing the senbon like she had, he summoned a few kikkai to do his bidding for him. Slowly, they carried the knife up to the leaf in question until they touched.

"That's cheating!" she laughed. "No way are you getting lunch from me, now!"

"The bet was that if I hit the leaf you would buy me lunch. I will hold you to that promise," he informed her, enjoying the scandalized look on her face.

"Ha-ha, nice try, Aburame," she said, plucking her senbon out of his hands once the kikkai had returned it. She tucked it carefully back into her hiding place. "Cheater," she pouted, sticking her tongue out at him. "But sure, I'll grab you lunch."

"There is no need," he said pleasantly.

He actually smiled a real, genuine smile, and she committed it to memory. It seemed like a rare thing for him to be so expressive, and she was glad that she got to see it. She stood up and stretched out, enjoying the heat of the sun soaking through her clothes. The only thing that could make this day better, in her opinion, was a nice sparring match, but she knew it was impossible. Just because they were isolated from the town didn't mean they still weren't undercover.

She'd never trained with Shino, but she wanted to try. She wondered what it would be like to exchange blows with his particular bloodline limit. She had plenty of experience with the Byakugan, but it would be interesting to try and spar with those bugs. She'd most certainly lose the first few rounds, since she'd never fought them before, but after a while she was sure she could come up with some kind of strategy…

Not to mention the idea of becoming friends with Shino after this mission was really appealing. As she walked to the edge of the small lake she wondered: were they friends now? Would they still talk after they got home? She knew that the chances weren't high. They'd probably go back to business as usual, running in the same circles but not with each other.

The thought made her sad, more than she thought it would. She bit the inside of her cheek and pushed it away. Nothing was certain anyway, so why borrow trouble from tomorrow?

So instead of dwelling on her worries she slipped off a sandal and tested the water. "Ooh, that's freezing," she muttered, wiping her wet foot on the warm grass.

"It is most likely run off from snow," Shino had appeared so quietly from behind her that she was surprised to feel his presence there. She'd been so busy bumming herself out that she hadn't even heard him get up.

"Hm, it's too bad," she mused aloud, turning her eyes to admire the glittering water, "A nice swim would make this day complete."

"Neither of us has the appropriate clothing," he pointed out.

"Well, we'd just go skinny-dipping, obviously," she teased, turning her head to watch his face. He looked mildly scandalized with a light blush across his cheeks and she laughed; sometimes it was just too easy. Heaven help whoever marries this guy, he'll be impossible to wrestle out of his clothes.

"Are you curtain it's too cold? Perhaps our bodies would grow accustomed to the temperature," he said as she eased her foot back into her sandal. She whipped her head around in surprise.

"What did you say?" she asked, turning to see that he was much, much closer to her than she'd originally thought. "Oh—!"

Shino watched, with no small measure of regret, as she teetered backwards and fell with a shriek into the freezing pond. His intent with that joke had been only to surprise her and maybe make her laugh, not shock her into falling into ice cold water.

She scrambled out of the pond as fast as she possibly could, and he held out his arm for her to grab onto as she tried to balance in her heavily soaked layers of clothing. "K-Kami, that's cold!" she exclaimed through her chattering teeth. "Like really cold! Sk-skinny-dipping is out of the question." She managed a laugh as she stood before him shivering.

"Perhaps we should return," he suggested, watching as she nodded her head in enthusiastic agreement. A cool breeze brushed by and she shook like a leaf.

"Y-yes, we should definitely hurry b-back," she said, crossing her arms. He felt a stab of guilt when he saw how her lips were turning blue. He took no time at all in gathering their things and they set a swift course back to the Inn.

Tenten began peeling off her wet layers of clothing the moment they were back in the hotel room, Shino's sense of modesty be damned. She was thankful that he didn't say anything about it, opting instead to turn around and face the wall as she shed her heavy clothes.

She hopped into the shower as quickly as she could, letting the hot water run over her body and put the feeling back into her numb fingers and toes. At least now, in this moment, she could finally take the opportunity to laugh at herself—Shino really knew how to surprise her, that was for sure. Before this mission she'd never have guessed that he would astonish her with his sense of humor, but he had on several occasions already. He just seemed so stiff all the time that when he did joke, he really packed a punch. It was a quality she admired.

Shino, on the other hand, sat on the bed and waited for his teammate to finish her shower in silence. He felt responsible for her plunge into the pond; if he hadn't snuck up so close to her, he was sure that she wouldn't have fallen. All he could do now was hope that she didn't get sick.

He would also have to apologize. Again. He felt like he was constantly apologizing to her. He couldn't get it right, could he? He was always doing something to hurt her or embarrass himself—like chiding her for drinking too much when she was doing it for his own good, or throwing her off his lap when she was only trying to train him. And now he had played a part (maybe not a direct part, but a part nonetheless) in her fall. If she got a cold, he would never forgive himself.

A sigh escaped his lips as he wallowed in his shame. Tenten would probably play it off like it was nothing, too, like she usually did. He imagined that she would probably smile and wave off his apology, cheeks red from the cold, her hair wet from her shower.

He had to forcibly draw himself out of that line of thinking right then and there. He'd lost count of the times he'd had to tell himself not to admire her, and he was doing it again as if he had no will of his own. He reminded himself that it was pointless, anyway—there were so many reasons it wasn't worth it to think of her in any other way than platonic.

She opened the bathroom door and his kikkai pulsed beneath his skin as if to tell him to pay attention. He looked up to see her already dressed, and deduced that she'd brought her clothes into the bathroom with her.

"Ahh, that was a good shower," she sighed as she towel-dried her long hair. She looked relaxed, more so than she had in the last few days.

She really was feeling rejuvenated despite her icy fall earlier in the day. She didn't know if it was the fact that they had taken a short break from what felt like futile spying and intelligence gathering, or if it had been those few hours in the sun, but she felt immensely better.

"How are you feeling?" Shino asked, adjusting his glasses in his usual manner and shifting a little bit to face her.

"I'm fine. Lots better after a hot shower," she admitted, crawling under the covers of the bed. She could feel a little bit of the heat from where he was sitting—and he wasn't even that close. Tenten had heard from somewhere that the kikkai used by the Aburame could regulate their body temperature. She almost wished that he would jump under with her and share his warmth.

Almost. She blushed at the thought. Ha! As if he'd agree to that. He had all but refused to jump into the same bed with her the first night they'd arrived here.

"Your face is flushed," he pointed out. "Are you certain that you are not getting sick?"

Her eyes widened and she burrowed under the covers just a little more. It was one thing to blush at the thought of cuddling with him in bed; it was a whole other thing for him to notice. And of course he would. Shino Aburame probably noticed everything.

"I think I'll be alright," she said with a nervous laugh.

"Green tea can be helpful when you're feeling sick. Perhaps you would like some?"

"Thanks, but I think I'll really be okay," she said, mortified. "All I need is some sleep."

"Of course," he said softly, standing up. The small measure of warmth he'd been providing left the bed and she shivered.

Uh-oh. That wasn't a good sign.

It didn't escape his notice, either. "Perhaps I will go down to the café and bring back a pot," he said, turning to leave.

"No, really, I'm just fine," she instead. A traitorous tickle in her nose suggested otherwise. "I think I really just need sleep, that's all." She'd never been laid up on a mission before and she didn't want to start now. Maybe if she just believed hard enough she wouldn't be sick. That worked, right?

"Are you certain?" he asked.

"Yes, a hundred percent positive," she assured.

"If you insist."

"Thanks for the offer, though, I… ah… ah… achoo!"