The Third Hokage was dead.

Only a handful of jounin, if even that many, saw the defeat for their own eyes. They were the ones to attest that Lord Third had been slain while in battle, protecting the village from his own student. Not many could see the battle for themselves—

Because they were all asleep, thanks to the enemy's genjutsu.

Tenten was one of the victims, all due to poor timing. She had intended to check on Neji, but waited just a few moments outside his door, since he appeared to be in the middle of reading an important letter. She kept a close eye on him until he began to quiver in sadness. At that moment, Tenten decided to leave and check on him later.

If there was even a 'later' for them.

As she made her way through the maze of an arena, Tenten was just about to the exit when she fell under the sleeping genjutsu.

When she came too, she was told the events nearly everyone missed. The Sound and Suna plotted together to attack Konoha. Elite Konoha jounin defended the village while a group of genin went after Sasuke, who chased after Gaara to finish their match. Supposedly, Gaara had begun turning into some kind of monster in the middle of his match until Neji's cousin Hinata bravely yelled at the monster to stop. The transformation halted altogether and Gaara fainted promptly afterwards, but Kankuro and Temari caught him before he could fall.

At that moment, nearly everyone fell under the genjutsu previously mentioned as explosions could be heard throughout the village. Kankuro and his sister fled into the forest with their little brother with Sasuke following and the genin group pursuing him. Somehow, Naruto ended up fighting Gaara and miraculously won again. Gaara apologized for his actions before him and his siblings returned to their village, where they learned that the Kazekage had been killed and impersonated by Orochimaru.

A day or so after the Third Hokage's funeral, Tenten found a messenger bird waiting for her outside her apartment window. The bird was a peculiar species not known in the Land of Fire. Cautiously removing the scroll from the holder, Tenten was just as careful when opening the scroll.

She didn't expect it to be a letter from Kankuro, apologizing for leaving without saying 'goodbye' and explaining everything that happened, as promised. The Kazekage—who was actually Orochimaru—plotted with the Sound Village to attack Konoha to equalize shinobi forces. Obviously the plan backfired. Suna was in the middle of drafting a public apology to Konoha along with the offer of any services the village may need. They planned on sending the message once Takamaru—the bird in her house—returns, since it was the fastest bird in the village along with belonging to the Kazekage. That got Tenten wondering—

How did Kankuro get access to such an important asset to the Kazekage?

Deeper in the letter, the newly appointed Suna chunin requested that she meet with him in a town that was about halfway between his village and Konoha one week from the day she received the letter. There, they can talk more about the situation and apologize for everything in person. He even mentioned bringing a few weapons from Suna to help convince her to say yes. Tenten couldn't help giggling at that line. He really knew the way to her heart after just one date.

The reply didn't take long to create, but it did take forever for the week to pass by and travel to that specific town. Somehow, she managed to convince the village elders to let her leave the village for training and self reflection. It wasn't the full truth, but they didn't need to know it at the moment. Tenten was more than content with keeping her affair secret for now.

Starting from that single meet-up, where the two slowly found themselves falling for each other, a new routine formed. Every two weeks, sometimes longer or shorter, they would meet up in that same town to weapon train and for their date. Each time they would rendezvous, Kankuro insisted on paying for meals and their overnight stay in the hotel. The first couple times, Tenten allowed it because she thought he was trying to be chivalrous, but then grew suspicious when he continued to do so despite the objections.

How does Kankuro have so much money when he is just a beginning chunin?

Well, Tenten found her answer—

Two days after Sasuke Uchiha left the Hidden Leaf Village in the dead of night.

The newly appointed Fifth Hokage—the legendary Sanin, Tsunade Senju—appointed Shikamaru as squad leader to form a team of genin in charge of bringing the Uchiha home. Out of all the genin, he chose his teammate Choji, Naruto, Kiba, and Neji; in other words, at least one person from the each of the Konoha 11 squads. It really was a great team strategic wise—

Shikamaru made it out with a broken finger. Lee—who snuck away to join them hours after his surgery—was more exhausted than anything. Naruto had minor injuries and suffered from chakra exhaustion.

As for the others, Kiba had a self-inflicted stab wound to the side, to prevent the enemy from taking over his body. Choji had extreme chakra exhaustion along with awful side effects from taking the sacred red pill, which could cause death in a majority of the cases. Neji, along with multiple stab wounds, had a large gaping hole in his shoulder that needed immediate surgery.

Miraculously, they all survived their medical treatments.

As soon as she heard the news, Tenten rushed to the hospital to check on her teammates, as they were the closest thing she had to a family. Neither one were allowed to have visitors at the present moment, so Tenten roamed the talks until she was allowed to see them—

Bumping into someone she didn't expect to see for a couple more weeks.

Before she really comprehended that he was there, Lady Tsunade rounded the hallway corner, greeting the two with the same calm demeanor, asking what the two were doing. Kankuro answered first, since Tenten was still dazed by his appearance. Apparently, he was checking on Kiba, seeing how he was doing after Kankuro helped him back to the village after ending the fight with the Sound shinobi. Lady Tsunade claimed there would be no visitors that day so she could focus on overseeing everyone's recovery and their progress. She offered her condolences on the Suna siblings' father passing, then wondered which of them would be chosen to take the Kazekage's place.

Tenten froze.

That's why he has so much money! Why he's always insisting on paying for everything for her. It must be the reason why he could use Takamaru whenever he so choose without any issues. Why he could sneak away from his village with no problems and no questions asked.

He's the Kazekage's son.

Kankuro quickly changed the topic as he gave a worried look toward Tenten, like he didn't want her to know. He commented about finding a hotel in the village to rest and come back in the morning, maybe leave for his home with his brother and sister by the afternoon. Lady Tsunade suggested Tenten guide him to a suitable place close to the hospital.

Instead, Tenten led him through the backstreets toward her apartment, claiming it would only be right for him to stay with her to make it even between them. Kankuro walked in first, setting his puppets against the closest wall, as Tenten locked the door behind her.

"Why didn't you tell me who your father was?" Tenten wondered sternly. "You knew, or at least I hoped you knew, my opinion and thoughts about you wouldn't have changed. I . . ." She trailed off, gazing downwards as her cheeks turned rosy pink. "I love you."

Kankuro sighed in light frustration as he closed the space between them in a warm embrace. Kissing her forehead affectionately, he grumbled, "I wanted to tell you first. I made you your own puppet and planned on telling you after I gave it to you. I thought for weeks on what I was going to say and how I was going to do it."

Tilting her chin up so their gazes could meet, Kankuro confessed, "I love you, Tenten. I didn't tell you who my father was because of how he treated my brother. He tried to have Gaara killed six times before he gave up and forced me and Temari to stay away from him."

Tenten gawked at the information. "Six?" she repeated incredulously. "That's awful! I didn't know anyone could be worse than my parents."

Kankuro raised a worried eyebrow. "Worse?"

"They were common folk that wanted nothing to do with shinobi," Tenten grudgingly informed. "They were young—about fifteen or sixteen—non-married couple that just wanted to travel. They were happy to have me at first, but I guess one doctor visit showed I had chakra. They didn't want me anymore, so they left me in Konoha after my birth. Lord Third said he had Anbu keeping tabs on them just in case they ever wanted to come back for me. A couple months after abandoning me, they grew insane over the thought of conceiving a potential ninja and . . . killed themselves."

Kankuro's hold tightened at the revelation. "They are horrible," he agreed. "They never deserved you."

Smiling softly, Tenten cleared her throat to ease the tension in the atmosphere. "Why don't you wash up and I'll get the room ready." Her smiled turned just a bit mischievous. "You can show me what I deserve while I show you how much I love you."