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TEN
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“I can’t believe I said that.” Tenten buried her blushing face into her hands.

“…” Neji tried not to laugh, but it was proving a bit more difficult than he cared to admit. She just looked so adorable to him, standing there, hiding her face in embarrassment as the pair stood on the small red bridge that crossed over the running hot-spring water.

After being excused from the dinner, Neji had suggested they take a walk; somehow they had ended up on the opposite side of the village, near the bathhouse. It was a peaceful night out; they hadn’t run into very many people on their walk through the village.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe I said that.” Tenten threw her head back, cupping the sides of her face as she looked up into the night sky.

“Haha.” Neji softly chuckled; unable to restrain himself any longer.

“How can you just laugh?” Tenten turned to him agitatedly. “And why didn’t you say something back then?” she asked accusingly.

“They were not asking me.” Neji simply replied.

“But it concerns you too you know.” Tenten pointed stated; fiercely staring him straight in the eye.

An awkward silence engulfed the pair as they both realized the implication of Tenten’s words. Turning her face toward the rushing water blow, to avoid showing the deep blush on her face, Tenten missed seeing the equally scarlet hue rising on the usually pale faced Hyuga.

“I’m not having ten.” Tenten mumbled after a while.

“…” Neji’s earlier amused expression returned; unnoticed by the kunoichi, who was still busy finding the water blow more interesting than anything else around her.

“There’s no way.” Tenten shook her head determinedly.

“Hn.” Neji smirked.

Of course he didn’t expect her to have ten children; HE wouldn’t want that many. But it had been amusing to hear her response to the elder’s question; and even more amusing when he told her what she had said.

“And you better not think I’m going to give up being a kunoichi.” Tenten turned upward to glare sternly at the shinobi.

Her eyes told him she wasn’t kidding; not that he’d ever considered asking her to give up what she was most passionate about. Really, he couldn’t imagine her being anything but a kunoichi.

“Of course.” Neji replied.

“I mean it!” Tenten firmly added. “So don’t you dare think of asking; got it?”

“I would never dream of it.” Reaching out to move a stray lock of hair from her face, he tilted her head upward to face him. “You would not be the woman I fell in love with.”

“Good.” She blushed lightly at his tender comment, though still retaining the fierceness of her stare; emphasizing just how serious she was about that matter. “I’m glad we got that settled.”

“Hn.” Neji smiled down at her; amused at the reaction he would get as he gently stroked his thumb across her lower lip, while cupping her chin with his hand.

Her delicate mouth, with its tinted red lips enticed the Hyuga. He rarely saw her with makeup on, which is the way he liked her; but seeing the brightness of her lips, Neji couldn’t help lean forward slightly. All throughout dinner he had wanted to lean over and capture her lips with his own. But he had resisted; partly because it just wasn’t proper, but mostly because he still didn’t feel very comfortable openly displaying his affection in front of others, especially not in front of Ryoku. But that was then; now, there was no one to stop him.

“It definitely won’t be ten.” Tenten repeated before walking up to the bridge’s red railing to watch the water rushing below; inadvertently preventing Neji from reaching his target.

“Hmph.” Neji let out a frustrated groan, before moving to lean up against the red railing next to Tenten.

“It’s not like I’m even that good with kids.” Tenten somberly stated, remembering all the times their team had been assigned to deal with children.

“Hn.” It was true that she wasn’t particularly the best at caring for small children. It wasn’t that she was a particularly bad at it, but since she’d never had younger siblings of her own, she sometimes forgot that you weren’t supposed to yell after you put them to sleep, or that children required constant attention, or that they cried, or that they constantly needed to be cleaned. But that was okay; after all, due to the nature of living the shinobi life, Hyuga’s had nannies to care for their kids. Neji was confident that no matter what, it would be fine.

“But I’d definitely want to take care of them myself you know.” Tenten added, almost as if she could predict what Neji had been contemplating.

“Hn.” Neji nodded. It shouldn’t have surprised him; she wasn’t the type who liked to relay on others in the first place.

“…” Tenten sighed. Neji wasn’t sure, but she seemed upset all of a sudden.

“Do you think I could do it?” Tenten asked in a somber tone.

“…” Neji turned to face the kunoichi better; arching his brow questioningly down at her.

“What if I forget to feed them?” Tenten continued.

“Hn.” At that, Neji couldn’t help but smile. It was such a weird question; something that could only possibly worry Tenten.

“Maybe I just wasn’t born with that gene.” Tenten dejectedly sigh, once again remembering all of her past experiences with kids. “What if, the maternal stuff is attached to the femininity gene; and if I didn’t get that one, who’s to say I got the other one?”

“You will be an excellent mother.” Neji reassuring her, while at the same time trying not to laugh at her odd logic.

Of course she’s make a fine mother. And who ever said Tenten wasn’t feminine had obviously never seen her in a kimono before. Looking at her now, Neji couldn’t help but think she was the most beautiful thing in the world. Not feminine? Not girly perhaps; which was a relief to the Hyuga, but not feminine? From his perspective, there was nothing unfeminine about her; she was just a “strong” feminine, which was just what he liked.

A small sound from behind them suddenly caught Neji’s attention; jarring him out of his thoughts.

“Cat.” Tenten pointed at the feline walking out from behind a trash bin.

“Hn.” Neji nodded; though he wasn’t completely sure that was the end of the matter.

Tenten sighed again. “Do you really think so?” she asked; bring Neji’s attention back to her.

“I’m sure.” Neji replied; forgetting completely about the sound they’d just heard.

“How?” Tenten looked up pleadingly.

The matter really seemed to be worrying her, and Neji wasn’t sure what he could do to convince her. He had often teased her about her lack of material instincts, but deep down, he did believe she would make an excellent mother; she certainly took care of their team like a worried mother. She would always fuss about the three male members’ of team Gai overexerting themselves. Whenever one of them got sick from staying out too late in the cold or in the rain, she was always the first to scold them for their lack of sense, and then she’d stay by their side to nurse them back to health. It was true that she wasn’t the sweet babying type of mother; but she was the type who would raise strong, self sufficient children.

“You haven’t forgotten to feed Bu-mu, right?” Neji asked.

“Well, no…” She paused. “But Bu-mu barks to let me know she’s hungry.”

“And a child would cry.” Neji pointed out.

“Yeah, but we’re talking about your kids here. They’d probably be all silent and well mannered; and never cry.” Tenten ranted. “Then how would I know to feed them?”

“Fufu.” Neji suppress his laughter at the mental image of what she had described. “Tenten. I wasn’t born this way.” He replied.

“Che.” Tenten scoffed, giving him a suspicious look. “Yeah right.”

“Hyuga children are the same as any other children.” Neji assured her.

“Yeah, well we’re not talking about Hyuga children.” Tenten began. “We’re talking about NEJI children.”

“Actually,” Neji replied thoughtfully. “We’re talking about Neji and Tenten children. Which means it’s just as likely they would be loud and bubbly.”

“Loud and bubbly?” Tenten repeated. “Is that how you see me?”

“Hn.” Neji grunted.

“Well, better than moody and emo.” Tenten mumbled under her breath. “Hey wait!” she paused, looking up thoughtfully.

“Huh?” A perfectly chiseled brow rose, as Neji waited for the kunoichi to continue.

“Is the Byakugan a dominate trait?” She asked, turning to face him.

“Hai.” Neji nodded.

“Then our kids will end up having your eyes?” Tenten questioned.

“That is correct.” Neji replied.

“…” Tenten remained silent for a moment as she processed that information. “Well that’s fine. White eyes are pretty.”

“…” Neji smiled at her comment. He was glad to know she liked his eyes; many people often said byakugan eyes were creepy; he was glad to know she wasn’t among those.

“Will they have your hair too?” Tenten curiously asked.

“There are Hyuga with different hair.” Neji informed her.

“Oh, okay.” Tenten nodded. “I wonder what our kids would look like.” She mused; looking up at the night sky as she tried to picture them.

Neji fount it amusing to hear Tenten talk about their possible future children; it made their future all the more real to him. Looking down at her, he couldn’t help but think that any child they had together would undoubtedly be blessed. Not only would they be endowed with the power of the byakugan, but with Tenten as their mother, they would be skilled with any weapon; making any child of theirs a formidable shinobi. And beside that, he was certain they would also be very attractive looking as well. Though he never much cared for the attention his looks got him, Neji was well aware he was a handsome man; but with Tenten as the mother, he was sure any child of his would be even better-looking than he himself was.

Cupping Tenten’s chin in his hand, before tilting her face to look up at him, he smiled down at her and said, “As long as they have your smile, I am certain they will be beautiful.”

“Awww.” Tenten smiled up at the shinobi; her entire face lighting up in the process. “You can be so sweet when you want to be.” She leaned up against him to wrap her arms around his waist, pressing her body into his as she gave him a warm hug.

“Only with you.” Neji wrapped his arms around her small form; resting his chin at the top of her head, as she buried her face into his chest.

“Wow.” Tenten let out a muffled sigh as she relaxed into his embrace.

“Huh?” Neji waited for her to continue.

She turned her head to the side, still resting it on his muscular chest. “I can’t believe we’re getting married.” The words came out in a small whisper, but Neji caught them nonetheless. “I was so scared that dinner wouldn’t go well.” Tenten confessed her earlier anxiety. “I was so worried the elders wouldn’t approve and we wouldn’t be able to get married.”

“I wasn’t.” Neji replied. He had been afraid that the elders might not approve, but he knew from the start, with or without their approval, he would marry Tenten regardless.

“You weren’t?” Tenten looked up into his eyes.

“Nothing could possibly stop me from marrying you.” Neji reassured her; gazing down into her eyes, before leaning in to place a tender kiss on her forehead.

“…” Tenten closed her eyes and smiled; sighing happily.

The pair stood in each other’s arms peacefully; comfortably holding each other as they listened to the beating of their hearts and the rushing water below.

“I’m not having ten.” Tenten’s voice broke the silence after a while.

“That’s fine.” Neji chuckled.

“Two maybe.” Tenten continued. “Three at most.”

“What ever you’re comfortable with.” Neji smiled in amusement at the seriousness of her tone. Of course he hadn’t expected ten. It wasn’t like he was any better with kids than she was; he didn’t want ten.

“And they’ll be training in weapons mastery.” Tenten firmly stated.

“Of course.” Neji nodded; having already concluded as much himself.

“Imagine…” Tenten smiled mischievously. “Your Byakugan, and my skill with weapons…”

Neji smirked; she was thinking the same thing he had been thinking. “They’ll be unstoppable.” He agreed.

“Yeah…” Tenten’s smiled widened. “Our kids are going to be so cool! I can’t wait!” She shut her eyes closed as she giggled at the thought.

“Then perhaps we should get started.” Neji teasingly replied; pulling her closer into him.

“Eh?” Tenten sniffed nervously, before anxiously pushing herself out of his embrace; a look of shock, terror, and nervousness warped her face.

“HAHAHA.” Neji threw his head back as he laughed at her reaction. He loved being able to effect her that way.

“NEJI!” Realizing what he’d done, she charged at the Hyuga. “THAT WASN’T FUNNY!”

“Yes it was!” Neji continued laughing, as he ran off, escaping the girl’s sudden onslaught. He wasn’t sure where she had been able to hide the weapons she suddenly began hurling at him, but it didn’t surprise him in the least that she had.

…

“Oh. My. Gawd.” (1)

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TBC...
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