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the one with the sonogram at the end

Dating, simply put, is the action of going out with a particular, possibly special someone, for a night of fun - dinner and a movie, maybe a hike through the forest, or an hour in an escape room. Tenten is laid back when it comes to dates, mainly because she hasn't been on one in so long and as a result is willing to try anything. She doubts she'll ever meet the coveted 'One' on a first date with a handsome stranger, and even then that 'One' needs to pass the millions of tests she has in store for them before they she's fully comfortable with entertaining the notion of marriage, or love (whichever comes first). Namely, culinary prowess, knowledge of knives, humour, intelligence, and the pinnacle of them all: compatibility with her friends.

They're not awful by any means - the fou-five people she calls her best friends, that is - they all happen to be very lovely, very funny individuals with great personalities. It's just that they're all unhealthily attached to each other, and any newcomers who intrude on their group dynamic via dating have their own examinations to pass before they're accepted into their folds. Sure, Hinata didn't have to go through that but she's Neji's cousin and any family members are automatically considered welcome.

It's horribly elitist of them. They will literally be sitting with each other in a ramen-house after work every day for the rest of their lives - they hope.

In any case, her date went so well. Jugo was recently divorced - had broken the anniversary watch she'd left at their old home - and surprisingly kind, for someone who slices through meat with his cleaver like it's balsa wood, and gentlemanly. He'd held open the door, pulled the chair out for her to sit, was genuinely interested in the conversational pieces they'd had about cooking, and to top it all off - was incredibly good-looking.

It was like she'd won the lottery. Tenten'd given herself a mental pat on the back for choosing so well after four years of self-imposed abstinence.

When they were both nearly done with their meals, Jugo placed his fork on the table. "Tenten," he said apologetically, "About what we're going to do, you know - after this."

Ah. She recalled being explicitly told that sex wasn't in the cards for either of them tonight.

"Well, you're a great person, and I feel like I should tell you about - this kind of fifth-date revelation."

"Is there going to be a fifth date?" Tenten smiled at him cheekily. He flushed.

"If you want."

Tenten nodded, because why not, and he continued.

"Ever since my ex-wife walked out on me, I haven't been able to...perform sexually for two years. It's a little embarrassing," Jugo looked down at his plate and Tenten felt a surge of pity for him.

She placed her hand over his and smiled. "I'm glad you broke her watch."

Jugo returned her smile with a star-struck gaze. "So do you - do you still want that fifth date after hearing all that?"

"Yeah, I do."

And then she comes to work the next morning, grinning from ear to ear, swearing that the sun's smiling at her because holy kami, she had sex last night and nothing can ruin her mood today. Not even the sauce that goes wrong too early in the morning, which she fixes because she's a boss at fixing sauces, and not even the arrival of a prissy Shion who regularly makes predictions about which customer will storm out of the restaurant and on which night more often than she makes desserts.

It is Shion, of all people, who picks up on her good mood. "You had sex last night," she states matter-of-factly.

Tenten stops mixing the flour and glances at her, surprised. "How do you know?"

Shion shrugs. "So who was it?"

Tenten decides that as much as she dislikes Shion, she hasn't told anyone about her night yet (not even Sakura, who was asleep and moping over her wedding) so she might as well get it over and done with. "Jugo."

"Oh," Shion gives Tenten that mysterious smile she always does when she knows something someone else doesn't, "Jugo the Meat Guy. I know him."

She finds that fact strange. While Tenten regularly crosses paths with the meat section to grab ingredients, dessert and meat don't mix all too often - if at all- so she isn't sure how Shion knows Jugo. "You mean, you know him like I know him?"

"Yes," the woman affirms without a blink, "I'm happy for you two. When I was dating him, he told me that he hadn't had sex in two years!"

Tenten drops her wooden spoon and stares at the half-mixed flour in muted shock, then drops the watch he'd left over at her apartment yesterday and resolutely crushes it with the heel of her boot.

Sasuke works in a curatorial position at the Museum of Pre-historic History under the anthropology department. He walks into his office every morning with a cup of coffee - black, like his soul - and gently sets it on the designated spot on his desk, then slaps his computer awake and undergoes the tedious process of picking up his paperwork and compiling resources for his thesis. The files are in surplus at this time of the year, so he doesn't get to do his daily rounds in the exhibits as long as he normally does. But when he does get around to it, he examines and picks at the wax models of australopithecus africanus so thoroughly that his assistants are exasperated and on the verge of hitting him over the head after an hour.

He loves his job, alright.

It's the only part of his life that's been constant lately, with Temari's demand (and success) for a divorce, her moving out of their home and into an apartment with Shikamaru - who even names their daughter Shikamaru? - and Sakura's arrival from the pages of a Vogue Wedding edition.

When he's around fake pre-historic people, with their clubs and their simplistic lifestyles, he feels like at the very least, he's a member of the homo sapiens species and look how far they've come? Modern humans don't need to bang people over the head with their clubs, and Sasuke Uchiha is a modern human with an IQ of 150 and is thus very capable of rational thought.

Although, hypothetically, and if Shikamaru were male, that notion may be under question.

"Mr Uchiha," one of his assistants speak up from behind a rock and points his thumb at the glass pane, "I think your ex-wife is here to see you."

He feels his back straighten out and stiffen. "No, she's not."

The assistant starts to look and sound confused, and Sasuke attempts to send him mental death-waves from where he's standing, which is facing away from the pane and definitely not willing to see the former love of his life again. If the employee knows what's best for him, he'll pretend that Temari isn't there.

"But she is." Sasuke resolves to fire him as soon as she's gone. "Temari! Hi!"

He exhales through his nostrils and swivels around to see his assistant walking out and Temari stepping through a bush to greet him. "Temari."

"Sasuke," she replies warmly. "You look good."

He nods. "As do you." She truly does, as much as he hates that she looks considerably happier without him. The air is as awkward as it's been for the past half-year, so he decides to clear it in the only way he knows how with people who divorce him because they're not into men. "Why are you here."

"I'm pregnant."

Strictly speaking, the first time Sasuke had been present at a sonogram screening was when he was in Mikoto Uchiha's womb. He'd been told that his father was driving Itachi to school and Tenten was sitting in a nearby chair with her Barbie chef doll and minding her own business while the doctor put a stick to his mother's stomach and moved it around.

It's his first time witnessing that happen now, and he isn't sure how he feels about it.

The presence of his ex-wife's girlfriend didn't help either.

"Shikamaru Nara," the woman greets him with a handshake and a lazy, appraising expression. Her hair is spiky, her eyes droopy, her entire demeanour screaming laid back and suave - everything he isn't. Apparently, and according to his sister, he's too wound up (bullshit).

"Sasuke Uchiha."

The doctor walks in with a tray of instruments, greets them warmly and settles Temari into the hospital cot. "I'll be back in a few moments."

When she leaves, Sasuke looks at the two of them looking at each other lovingly. "Does the doctor know...about our situation?"

"Yes," says Temari, "And she's very understanding." Shikamaru grabs a water bottle from her bag and passes it to Temari, who receives it with a brief, nervous smile. "This is my first time seeing the baby."

Sasuke softens his gaze and nods. "What are we going to name it?"

"Shikadai if it's a boy, Yoshino if it's a girl," Shikamaru interjects immediately. "Yoshino is my mother's name." Sasuke feels the beginnings of a tantrum coming on and clenches his jaw.

"Are you telling me that my child will be named after your family? How selfish could you possible be."

"Shika and I made this decision together, Sasuke," Temari sends him a very familiar, very reproachful glare.

"I'm the other biological parent, not your-"

"Lesbian lover," Shikamaru practically smirks.

He fumes. "I should have a say in what my child's name will be."

"Then shoot," Shikamaru glares back at him, "Now's your chance."

"Naori. Naori Uchiha." They freeze and stare at each other awkwardly. Shikamaru mutters 'troublesome' under her breath. "What?"

"We're not naming the baby Naori Uchiha."

"Then how about Naka?"

Temari breathes in and out. "We're not naming the baby 'Uchiha'."

He feels the sting of rejection again, only this time it hurts a lot more. He hasn't been the most attentive husband to her, by reasons only half his fault, but at the very least a baby should have united them in some way. To hear Temari cut him out of his own flesh and blood like that makes him feel like punching a wall repeatedly - and Sasuke is known for having an excellent sense of self-control whenever he's in the right mindset.

"We're naming it Nara-Sabaku."

"What?" Sasuke feels the tips of his ears heat up. "I don't recall Little Miss Gothic here producing any sperm."

"Yeah," Shikamaru bites back, "And we all know what a problem that is."

"Stop it, you two," Temari shouts just as the doctor comes in, blissfully unaware of their delicate situation, and swiftly sets up the machinery. Temari's reddened cheeks tone down in colour the more the doctor speaks to her with reassuring words, and holds the hand that Shikamaru proffers apologetically.

Sasuke watches them, still irate, and walks towards the door. "If you don't want me to raise my own child, then so be it. I'm done."

Then he hears it. The gentle whirring of the machine sending its sound waves into Temari's womb. Sasuke turns his head marginally and sees a figure appearing in the screen, small and stark white against the black backdrop. Without meaning to, Sasuke finds himself edging closer and closer towards the ultrasound image and leaning down to have a closer look at the screen.

That's his baby.

A tear leaks out of Temari's eye, prompting her to squeeze Shikamaru's hand like Christmas just arrived early.

That's their baby.

-misspandalily