Disclaimer: Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto
All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!

A/N:Sorry for the long wait (8 days... wow... "long wait"... well, long wait for one of my update, though by most updates, i think i'm pretty quick XP)... was really busy with moot court... sadly did not make it in, but that's okay, I don't regret all the work I put into it because it was an enjoyable experience... still, this week has be very hectic with that, and then school starting... oh wow... i went to school 2 days, and it felt like the longest week of my life... lol... anyway, enoy the new chapter!

THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!

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GREETINGS
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"MOMMY! DADDY!" Tiny, yet powerful voices called out from the hall as the two identical toddlers she loved so much, came running into the room.

Tenten curiously watched as her twin sons abruptly stopped a few yards away. She wasn't that surprised though; even as brave as the pair of three year olds could be, they were still children; and Ryoku's enormous stature and intimidating aura, could easily scare any child.

Even when she was little, Tenten could remember a number of her friends were terrified to come to her house, for fear or running into her looming father's presence. Of course, Tenten had never been scared of him. Despite his fearsome appearance, Tenten had always seen her father as a giant, cuddly teddy-bear. Of course, that was understandable, since she was his 'little girl;' and despite his overprotective, overbearing, overly aggressive, intense personality, he was soft when it came to the ones he loved.

"Daddy?" Ryuuken cautiously walked toward Neji; his younger twin brother, Hitori, a short distance behind; holding tightly on to Ryuuken's tiny hand. (1)

Tenten could see that both boys wanted to ask who the three strangers standing in their living room were, but having been raised under Hyuga tradition (upon Tenten's insistence, since she had long believed one day they would return to the village and she wanted her children to easily integrate with both sides of their family), they were too well mannered to ask.

"Ryuuken, Hitori." Neji called out to the boys; gesturing for them to come closer. "Come greet your grandfather."

Tenten tried not to laugh at the slight glint in her fathers eyes. Even though he rarely showed any change in his expression, Tenten had always been very good at reading her father's subtle emotions. She could tell, from the slight squint in his eyes, that he was inwardly very happy hearing the last word Neji had said; although, he did cover it well when he suddenly shifted from his smiling eyes, to a piercing glare directed as Neji.

"Ryoku-sama." Neji politely addressed the intimidating ANBU; attempting to ignore the heated glare aimed at him. "I would like to introduce you to your grandchildren; our son's Ryuuken-kun and Hitori-kun."

Again, she tired not to laugh. Tenten was amused, but not at all surprised that Neji had emphasized the point that the twins were in fact boys. It would have been an easy mistake to make, to mistake the twins for the opposite gender. Much like Neji, the boys were rather cute, and with their long hair, they could easily be confused for little girls; though, to this day, that had yet to occur. However, each time Neji introduced his sons in a manner similar to the one he'd just given, it made Tenten want to laugh. It seemed to her, that perhaps Neji had some kind complex about it; she secretly suspected he'd been confused for a girl many times growing up, and he wanted to avoid that ever occurring to his boys.

"Daddy?" Hitori timidly pulled at his father's sleeve.

"Yes?" Neji looked down at the two boys, as they silently moved to stand behind their father; clearly being intimidated by the loom figure of their grandfather.

"Is he the one who put the green drawing on your face, or the one who tied you up naked on a tree?" Hitori quietly whispered.

This time, Tenten had to bite her inner cheek to keep from squealing, as she observed the scene unfolding a few feet from where she sat on the couch.

She recalled Neji's daily habit of tucking the boys in. Instead of reading them stories out of books, Tenten would often walk in on the three as Neji happily recited stories of Konoha as the boy's bedtime stories. She knew it was a way for him to stay connected to the village, but inwardly, even though they had never spoken about the remote possibility, Tenten had seen it as Neji's way of showing that he too believed they would one day return to the village.

"The second one." Neji mumbled; slightly embarrassed at the amused look directed at him from their three guests.

Tenten shared in their amusement; she too could recall the memory Ryuuken and Hitori were referring to.

.:..:..:..:..:.:..:..:..FLASHBACK..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:.

"Umm… Neji-kun?" Lee nervously looked up at his stoic teammate.

"…" Neji irritatedly growled; glaring menacingly at his three teammates. "Get.Me.Down." he ordered.

"hahaha." Tenten tried to stifle her laughter, but it was proving rather difficult. "Not until you tell us how you got up there." She laughed; staring up at her sparring partner, and secret boyfriend, as the stoic genius desperately tried to free himself from the constraints tying him to the large tree in their training field.

It was the early morning hours; sunlight barely threatening to break free of the horizon. There was still the dawn, chill in the air; very few people were out because the cold autumn mornings were not always pleasant at that hour. Yet, unexpectedly, Team Gai happened to find their talented prodigy in nothing more than his white boxer shorts, tied up against his usual meditation tree.

"Hn." Neji turned away; clearly not wanting to say anything.

"Fine." Tenten replied to his grunt. "Then you can just stay up there."

"I don't know." Neji finally growled after a few moments of awkward silence; realizing they would likely just stare and tease him if he didn't just say something.

"What do you mean, my youthful student?" Gai asked. "How can you not know how you came to such an unpleasant circumstance?"

"I don't know." Neji repeated, in the same tone he'd spoken earlier. "I just woke up here."

"Wait, wait." Tenten suppressed her laughter. "You're telling us, the great Hyuga Neji, was somehow taken from his impenetrable compound, kidnapped in his sleep, brought out to the forest, tied up against a tree, and didn't wake up?" Tenten abruptly broke out into a fit of laughter; it was too much!

"Hn." Neji turned away; clearly sulking. That of course, only served to double Tenten's laughter; guessing she was probably right.

"And they removed your clothes?" Lee innocently asked.

"hahaha." Tenten laughed louder. "I…" she began; between laughs. "think… he…" she continued laughing. "sleeps… like… that…"

"Oh." Lee remained pensive; clearly trying to figure out who could have done such a thing to his eternal rival.

"Umm." Gai rubbed his chin contemplatively. "Who ever it was, would have had to be a shinobi of great skill and prowess. Someone who was an expert in the field of covert operations, and stealth missions; perhaps an elite assassin ninja."

"aha." Tenten gasped; at last, ending her relentless laughter.

"What is it, Tenten-san?" Lee curiously asked.

"Umm…" Tenten apologetically looked up at the brooding teen. "I wonder if this might have something to do with my telling dad the reason I ended up in the hospital yesterday was because I missed Neji's last attack during the spar that morning."

"WHAT?!" Neji yelled out; angrily pulling at his restraints. (2)

.:..:..:..:..:..:..:..END FLASHBACK.:..:..:..:..:..:..:..

"Umm." Ryuuken cautiously walked up to the large ANBU; Hitori's hand still tightly grasped between his little fingers. "He doesn't look that scary." The small toddler commented to his father.

"…" Ryoku's left eyebrow amusedly shot up at the tiny child's small show of bravado.

"aha." Hitori gasped, quickly pulling his older brother back with him, behind Neji.

"Boys." Neji sternly looked down at the twins; clearly indicating that they had yet to follow through with their duty of politely greeting their guests.

"Ah." The boys replied in unison; understanding perfectly what their father's silent statement had been.

Being of Hyuga linage, Ryuuken and Hitori had similar personalities to their father's silent one. Of course, they had also shared in their mother's friendly and approachable nature, but possessing their twin connection, which enabled them to communicate almost telepathically, their communication skills were much more akin to that of their father's silent grunts, then to Tenten's more verbal methods. As a result, the two boys could easily pick upon slight mood changes, and understand without words exactly what was requested of them.

"Nice to meet you." Ryuuken and Hitori politely greeted in unison, as they respectfully bowed before their grandfather.

"…" Ryoku arched his eyebrow. "These children as far too formal for their age." He dryly commented, as he observed the two boys quickly run back to hide behind their father. "How old are you?" The giant man inquired of the boys.

"Three." Ryuuken bravely replied.

"Three?" Ryoku repeated. "They seem big for their age." He addressed Neji. "Not to mention, their behavior is very disciplined for children of such tender years." Tenten could tell from her father's tone, he wasn't saying those words as negative observations; but rather with pride. "You train them in that dojo?" he asked Neji.

"Hai." Neji nodded.

"Hn." Ryoku smirked. "Their facial features appear Hyuga, but their frames clearly present signs of Furi-iki traits. They will undoubtedly be formidable shinobi one day. I'm certain the elders will approve."

"…" Neji smirked.

It was as close to a smile as the two men had even shared; of that much, Tenten was certain. It sent gave her great pleasure to see two of the most important men in her life agree on something; best of all, it was in regard to two more of her most important people.

"Returning to that matter," Ryoku's face immediately went back to its stern appearance, as he glared at the Hyuga. "Why is it you say my daughter is unable to make a journey back to Konoha?"

"…" Tenten was about to speak up and reply that it wasn't true; of course she could return to Konoha. That's what she had always wanted; that's what she had been waiting for, all those years. Nothing was going to keep her from the home she'd always loved, and had longed to show to her two boys…

"Mommy, is our baby sister making you feel sick again?" Hitori innocently asked; inadvertently silencing the adult conversation. (3)

The three new arrivals remained silently transfixed; staring intensely at the kunoichi, as they slowly contemplated the implication of the child's words.

"TENTEN-SAN!" Lee, who, along with Gai, had been surprisingly silent the last few minutes, enthusiastically leap out of his seat and ran toward Tenten to hug her.

"Ah…" Tenten tired to pull the overly enthusiastic man off of her, as he tightly wrapped his arms around her in his usual crushing embrace.

"LEE!" Neji ripped the green-clad man away from his wife.

"Neji-kun?" Lee looked up confused at his old rival.

"Be gentler." Neji merely replied, before removing his grasp off the peculiar man's vest.

"Oh." Lee gasped. "I apologize!" He bowed to Tenten; having apparently, just then realized that such a strong embrace was probably not a good idea considering Tenten's current condition.

"It's fine." Tenten softly laughed. "Don't pay any attention to him." Tenten tried reassuring her old friend. "He's just being over protective."

She was, of course, referring to Neji, who had taken upon himself in the few months since they had learned of her pregnancy, to treat her as if she were some fragile piece of glass that, at any moment, would break. It had been the same when she was expecting the boys; although, for certain, this recent pregnancy was progressing slightly differently then the previous one.

The doctor had told Tenten, she needed to be careful and not over exert herself. But she didn't really think it was necessary. True, Tenten had been feeling a lot more tired through this pregnancy then she had for the previous one. And she had also was experiencing more of the common pregnancy effects than she had with the boys; like morning sickness, fatigue, dizziness, and a number of other symptoms she hadn't really experienced when she had been pregnant with the twins. But still, despite the few drawbacks and here and there, Tenten didn't really feel all that different; certainly not enough for Neji to be so overprotective.

Then again, even since they left Konoha, he had become more overprotective of her than he'd ever been before; it was almost as if Neji had taken it upon himself to take over Ryoku's role as her self-appointed protector. Honestly, Tenten never felt she ever need either man to protect her; just the same, she was grateful for it. She just wished he wouldn't get so worried over nothing.

"I'm fine." Tenten sternly informed her husband; who was inspecting her from head to toe with his Byakugan to make sure. "You worry too much." She assured her husband; pushing herself up on her toes as she lightly placed tiny kiss on his lips, before swooping down to face her two little guys. "Didn't you two forget something else?" She asked; knowing they had been far too engrossed with the mysterious presence of her father, to have remembered there were still two other men they had forgotten to introduce themselves to. "These two are Lee and Gai-sensei. You remember hearing about them too right?" She gestured toward the two other guests.

"…" The twins nodded; looking up worriedly at the two strange men dressed in bright green.

"YOSH!" Lee yelled; bringing the two boys into a group hug; much gentler then his previous teeth clenching embrace with their mother.

"It is a pleasure to meet the youthful off-spring of my two precious students!" Gai enthusiastically greeted the two boys after Lee had let them go.

"Arigato." Ryuuken and Hitori wearily smiled. "Nice to meet you, Gai-sensei; Lee-san." They added in unison.

"No, No!" Lee shook his head, as he knelt down to better face the two boys. "You must call me UNCLE LEE!"

"huh?" The boys exchanged worried looks; Tenten amusedly looked on as her former teammate pleadingly begged for the two boys to please call him 'Uncle.' (4)

"So a daughter, huh?" Tenten turned to face Ryoku and Neji, noticing a mischievous smirk formed on her father's face as he amusedly stared at the white-eyed man, no doubt thinking the same thing Tenten had been considering ever since finding out about the pregnancy.

Even though it was still too early to know the gender of their child, Tenten was certain it would be a girl; she just knew it.

'Dad or Neji…' She gently placed a hand upon her barely noticeable belly. 'Wondering which one of us will have it worst…'

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TBC
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FOOTNOTES:
(1) I hope you all remember the twins… Named after their grandfathers… Ryuuken (which means Dragon Strength), after Ryoku and Hitori (which means Fire Bird, or Fire Heart) for Hiashi and Hizashi.
(2) lol… I think Neji yelled more at the fact that she told Ryoku that, then that Ryoku did that to him… hehehe… did you all really expect me to go without a flashback… I'm having so much fun with them, I think I might include at least one in each chapter! XP
(3) If I were a crueler person, I would have ended the chapter right there XP
(4) For YOU Jue!...