Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > Unexpected Love
Chapter 6 - A Test in Faith
0 reviewsLove can pop up unexpectedly with someone you least imagine to fall for. NaruTen.
1Predictable
Disclaimer: All Naruto characters are the copyright of Masashi Kishimoto. I’m just borrowing them to write up a story with no intention of making any money. This is for fun. That’s all. :) No copying of my story is allowed. That's stealing if anyone copies my story into his/her own story. Write your own story without taking others' works! (angry glare)
Story rating: M (R)(for adult and sexual themes)
Written: February 2009-Present
Summary: Love can pop up unexpectedly with someone you least imagine to fall for. NaruTen.
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Unexpected Love
Chapter 6 – A Test in Faith
By JuPMod (aka JPMod)
Humans were a fickle species at times, especially when it came to entertaining themselves. Some would use their free time in the pursuit of hobbies. Others would seek out entertainment in movies, TV, and other leisure activities. Some would even continue their education, and a few would seek doing nothing at all.
Konoha was no exception, when it came to its population seeking out ways to keep themselves occupy during free time. It was why even a ninja village has a movie theater, a few arcades, several bookstores, and many other social activities for the citizens to engage in. Even the well-known small Red Light district has its usefulness at times.
So thus, even close to 9 PM in the evening, people were continuing their individual paths along the lighted streets, when the doors of Konoha movie theater opened and many people came out, having finished watching the movie, which had started two hours previous when there was still light outside. Small groups and single people all went their separate ways from the large three-screen theater.
One particular couple strolled away, talking about the movie they had just saw. They wore no hitai-ate, but those, who knew them, knew they were shinobi, and not just any shinobi, but Konoha’s latest couple – Uzumaki Naruto and Tenten. The grapevine has been abuzz on the young couple, for after all, this was the very first time the Hero of Konoha was dating and with one of the strongest kunoichi of the youngest generations. For some people, gossiping has been another way to take up their time.
“I say that final battle was absolutely spectacular!” Naruto nearly gushed, his left hand fisted and his blues eyes excited as he stared ahead along the path he was walking with his date besides him.
“No argument there,” Tenten grinned up at her boyfriend’s enthusiastic face with her arms wrapped around his right arm. “Although, I like the ending better.”
Naruto aimed a sly smirk down at his brunette girlfriend. “Maybe it’s because the ending has a happy wedding between the hero warrior and the heroine warrior maiden?”
“You know I don’t mind action movies with romance in them,” she replied back, “and that movie was romantic as one can get without making it corny.”
The blond chuckled. “Yeah, that’ll ruin the whole movie if they went too far in the romance department.” Blue eyes faced forward again, his face wistful with a tiny grin. “When I was younger, I thought all the romance stuff was mushy, but in the past year, I came to appreciate it more.” His gaze momentarily locked with hers. “I particularly don’t mind watching romance with you, Ten-chan.”
Tenten couldn’t help but smiled and blushed at his admission. Wanting it, she snuggled her left cheek onto his right shoulder, letting him guide her as they made their way toward her home.
Ever since they became a couple roughly a month ago at Waterfall Lake, there had been times she felt she wanted to be close to him, and this was one of those times. Even though she was a kunoichi, who didn’t need anyone to protect her, it didn’t lessen the sense of security and comfort a woman received when being close to a man she cared about. Besides, she too had been mostly occupied with watching the movie with Naruto, thus there has been no snuggle sessions compared to the last time they’d went to see a movie two weeks ago.
Reflecting back, the brown-haired young woman has to admit that it had been quite a month.
It had not taken long for them to tell their friends they were dating, and everyone had been supportive, especially Ino, who had nearly squealed that she had been right that Naruto and Tenten would eventually become a couple. Neji, Lee, and Gai brotherly had warned good-naturedly to the blond to treat Tenten well or else. Yet such protective threats had not been just limited to the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, for Hinata and Sakura had made similar warnings to Tenten regarding Naruto.
Of course, there had been the usual ‘Bring the boyfriend to dinner at home to meet mother’ event. As it was with Neji, Kyohaku already knew about Naruto and vice-versa, so there had not been any awkwardness during the dinner. He had been a bit nervous, thinking Kyohaku was going to interrogate him to see if he was worthy of her daughter, but the older woman simply was her usual joking self she had been to him before.
The surprise to the Weapons Mistress however had come from Tsunade. She, like Hinata and Sakura, made a warning to the young kunoichi to treat her ‘son’ well, but overall, the older woman was pleased to see Naruto have a girlfriend. Tenten knew the Godaime considered Naruto like an adopted son, but it still had been quite a shock to hear her idol threatened her with a serious face one moment and gave her a supportive smile the next. The whole experience had made the brunette felt like she had passed a test from a royal monarch to date the royal prince.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Naruto eyed his date and warmly grinned upon seeing her unfocused brown orbs looking ahead, telling him she was deep within her own thoughts at the moment. Tenten certainly looked beautiful to him, and it was not just due to the simple button-up white short-sleeved frilly blouse, knee-length blue skirt, black flats, and jewelry comprised of studded diamond earrings and the silver & gold kunai-and-shuriken necklace. Nope, it was also due to her hair was up in a high ponytail with a few loose strands curling in front of her ears and the tailed hair curled and frilly instead of straight. Before they had became boyfriend & girlfriend, the blond only once had seen the weapons-loving kunoichi with her hair down, and that had been by chance last year when he had happened to spotted Neji and Tenten out on a date.
Feeling eyes on her, Tenten broke out of her reverie and gazed up to see Naruto warmly looking at her. “See anything you like?” she teasingly asked with a small grin and a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, you,” Naruto immediately replied, and once more, the young woman felt her cheeks heat up at his flattering remark. Until they had started dating, she had not ever seen this side of him before. It made her wonder where this confident flattering shinobi has been hiding over the years. She certainly liked this Uzumaki Naruto far better than his hyperactive, loud, and brash 12-year-old self.
Giving a tiny shrug, Naruto elaborated further. “To be honest, Ten-chan, as I said before, I like seeing your hair down.” He raised his left hand in calming gesture with a chuckle. “And like I said before, not that I don’t think your buns are unattractive.” This time it was her turn to chuckle as he lowered his hand. “Just until this past month and one time last year, I have not ever seen your hair in any way other than your buns.”
With a pleased expression, Tenten released her right hand to reach back to gently touch her loose hair. “Well, as you might have guessed, I do not style my hair like this just for anyone. I did this for Neji,” her chocolate eyes narrowed at him with her grin becoming warm, “and now I’m doing this only for you.”
It delighted her to see those whiskered cheeks turned a nice shade of rosy red. She was not going to let him just make her blush most of the time.
“Thanks,” the tall young man finally stated, after a minute of trying to find a witty reply and just couldn’t. He opted to just being sincere. “You’re beautiful with your hair loose or in the buns. I’m happy I’m dating you, Ten-chan.”
“And I feel the same way toward you, Naruto-kun,” Tenten smiled with her heart tightened with emotion. She resumed snuggling her head onto his shoulder as they happily continued their journey, enjoying the touch and warmth of their close proximity.
Her mind once more thought of the past month, and so far, their relationship has been great. They had continued their training, done a couple of C-rank missions separately with their prospective teams, and wonderfully at appropriate times exchanged hot kisses that made her toes curl and her blood sing. Overall, it felt magnificent.
Tomorrow would be a big day for both of them. Due to some of their teammates assigned to other missions, the remaining members of Teams Gai and Seven would be working together on another C-rank mission. It was another easy escort where Neji, Sakura, Naruto, and she would guard a wealthy businessman and his teenage daughter to Konoha to conduct business with the village.
“I don’t think there is anything that could go wrong,” the brunette woman mentally chirped, not only about the mission but also about her relationship with Naruto.
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“I am going to kill her!” shouted Tenten in her head. Her expression showed displeasure as her eyes glared daggers at the dirty-blonde girl, who was flirting almost shamelessly with Naruto ahead of her on the dirt road. Despite her boyfriend was brushing off the teenage girl’s advances and just was friendly with her, the girl still tried to get her way with The Hero of Konoha, aka The Toad Sage of Konoha. “Does this girl can’t take ‘No’ for an answer?!”
Upon arriving at their client’s home two days ago, the mission had seemed to be uncomplicated. The businessman, Hiroshi, worried some of his competitors might be out to get him, so he’d hired Konoha’s help to guard him during the trip to the village. His daughter, Akane, had wanted to visit the shinobi village, thus why she was on the trip as well.
However, it had soon become obvious to the four ninjas that Akane, once Naruto was introduced, kept coming on to the Jinchuuriki. His name and rep were well known throughout the Elemental Countries ever since the Akatsuki’s defeat, and the young girl, as with so many others, hero-worshipped Naruto. Even before the group began the three-day walking journey to Konoha, the girl, roughly the same age as The Konohmaru Corps, tried to seduce him. This had not gone well with Tenten. Not well at all, for she had summoned out her mother’s katana and would have given Akana a world of hurt, if it weren’t for Sakura holding her back.
Now, here they were on the third and final day of the journey, and the little she-devil still has not given up, much to the four shinobi’s chagrin, especially Naruto. Hiroshi didn’t seem to mind, for he thought her daughter was just playing, and since the blond shinobi was the strongest among the four, the businessman allowed Akane to walk besides the Toad Sennin, who was strolling second in line with Neji taking point, Hiroshi in third position, and Tenten and Sakura guarding the rear.
Feeling a hand on her left arm, Tenten turned her head to stare into the concern green eyes of Tsunade’s youngest apprentice. “Calm down, Tenten,” Sakura whispered, so no one else could hear her. “Once we reach the village, that little minx will be out of our hair, and once Tsunade-shishou hears our report, I’m sure she’ll assign another team to escort this client home after he done his business.”
“I know, I know,” the brunette woman murmured with some heat. “Just this girl is really grating on my nerves. She keeps hitting on Naruto despite being brushed off and in knowledge that he is my boyfriend.” She let out a sigh while calming down a bit. “From what I remember, none of Naruto’s fan girls in the village were this aggressive.”
Sakura snorted a laugh. “Maybe because they couldn’t able to keep his attention for more than a few minutes before he makes up an excuse to be somewhere else. He then Shunshin away, before they could voice another word. Here, he does not have that option, since he has to escort our client, thus he has to put up with Akane’s advances.”
“Yeah,” Tenten agreed reluctantly. If he brushed Akane off too forcibly, it would be rude to the client. If he ran away, it would be consider rude to the client. In the end, he had no choice but to put up with the girl. Oh, the Naruto of five years ago would have spoken his mind quite assertively, but he had learned tact over time, thus he has gained a whole new level on having patience.
“Besides…” The lips on the pinkette turned up lopsidedly. “Ever since you started dating Naruto, most of the girls of the Uzumaki Naruto Fan Club backed off, especially knowing they stand no chance against a kunoichi of your caliber.”
Tenten smirked at this, even though it was nothing new to her. “I certainly am glad they did.” A giggle escaped her lips. “And I’m sure Naruto appreciates it too.” Both kunoichi giggled this time, knowing the big blond definitely felt relieved that most of his ‘fans’ had stopped pursuing him.
“Come on, Naruto-kun,” Akane smiled sweetly up at the blond. “When we reach Konoha, how about you become my tour guide? You can show me all the sites around.” Everyone, who paid attention to her, obviously heard the hidden meaning.
It was fortunate for Naruto that he was not the clueless kid that he once was. “Sorry, Akane, my duties does not include being a tour guide.”
“Naruto is correct,” Neji added, his eyes still scanning the road ahead of the group. “There are tour guides who are more knowledgeable than him for visitors to use, and Tsunade-sama will not order any shinobi to be tour guides. It’s a waste of resources to do so.” Akane pouted upon hearing this.
Inwardly snickering, Sakura and Tenten knew it was a lie that the Godaime would not order anyone under her command to become tour guides, but they were thankful the Hyuuga Jounin created the lie in order to get the girl off Naruto’s back. Naruto was also thankful for his friend’s help, as he thought ahead of getting to Konoha and getting this girl away from him.
Akane shrugged and immediately lightened up. “Then how about you and I go out to dinner?”
The grin on Tenten’s face dropped, before she snarled lightly at the annoying girl. She was insufferable!
“Patience, Tenten,” Sakura whispered into her left ear at the same time Naruto deflected Akane’s latest proposal. “A few more hours, and it’ll be over.”
The bun-haired kunoichi nodded in understanding, holding back the urge to use the client’s daughter as a pincushion for her weapons. “The end of the mission just can’t come any time sooner,” she thought, as Tenten’s ears heard the newest suggestion by the dirty-blonde vixen in attempting to seduce her boyfriend.
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“… And that’s pretty much the whole mission, Hokage-sama,” concluded Neji as he and his three comrades stood before the Godaime in her office.
“I see,” Tsunade said with a straight face, yet inwardly she was chuckling as her twinkling honey eyes moved from the leader to the only two chuunins of the group, who stood together in the center of the line with the two jounins flanking them. After giving a reassuring grin at the pair, she began writing a side note on the mission papers to be filed. “I’ll assign another team to escort the client back home. None of you will have to worry about meeting the client and his daughter again.”
A collective sigh of relief went through the four shinobi, especially more evident with Naruto.
Glancing up from her writing, the Slug Sannin nodded to the four. “You’re dismissed.” With that said, the group filed out of the room through the exit one by one until the door was closed, leaving behind a mildly amused woman. She kept envisioning the events in her head, thinking it must have been quite frustrating for Naruto and Tenten.
Shaking her head, Tsunade was happy that her pseudo-son was in a relationship, thinking back to her times with Dan. It certainly was not easy to maintain a relationship, given her brief experience on the subject. This occurrence for Konoha’s newest couple would be consider a minor bump, yet for the female Hokage, she wondered how Naruto and Tenten would fair against a major test of their faith toward one another.
One thing was absolutely clear to Konoha’s first female Hokage, making her grin with some pride. “Least I know for certain that Naruto will not stray. He’s far too loyal to become a cheater, and to do so, would be totally unlike him. Knowing Tenten, she too is the loyal kind, so any threat to their relationship would most likely be from outside influence or by mutual understanding that they just are not meant for each other.”
Returning to her work, Tsuande, as she done many times since hearing of Naruto dating Tenten, hoped highly that the whisker-faced young man would eventually find happiness for that part of his heart. After all, after all the suffering he had gone through as a child, he had finally in the last several years gained much respect and recognition, as well as friendship from a group of people he considered family. Now, he was on the road that might bring him love, and if all goes well, a real family in the future.
“Besides, I want to have some ‘grandchildren’,” the blonde sannin smirked. “It’ll be fun to see how the brat will handle his kids, whom could end up being just as hyperactive as he had been.”
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Opening the door, Naruto allowed his girlfriend to enter his apartment first before closing the door behind them. After being dismissed by Tsunade, Neji had gone home to write up the official report of the mission, while Sakura bid the couple good-bye before returning to her home. The blond chuunin had invited Tenten to his home for some snacks and dinner, and the bun-haired kunoichi had accepted.
After dropping her backpack and weapons scroll on the floor nearby the entrance, Tenten proceeded into the living room and flopped onto the couch before closing her eyes tiredly. Her beau dropped his backpack besides hers but strolled slowly toward the sofa, giving a small worrisome grin at the stressful expression on her face.
“You want anything, Ten-chan?” he asked, watching the young woman opened her brown orbs to look at him with a tiny grin.
“Maybe some sake. I could use a drink,” replied the brunette. Naruto nodded once before entering the fully opened kitchen.
While the blonde retrieved a sake bottle and couple of small glasses from the cabinets, Tenten relaxed into the couch’s cushions, her line of sight focusing out the windows to the scene of the bustling village outside six stories below. She came to enjoy the view Naruto’s apartment provided, and it was truly a nice place with two bedrooms, a full bathroom with shower and bath, and living room and kitchen combo. Since his old apartment had been destroyed by the Akatsuki Pain, Naruto had moved into this new place once the apartment complex was built, and having been to his new home only once prior before they became a couple, the Weapons Mistress had knew that Naruto was very lucky to gain a great place to live. It was new with new-fangled appliances, has a great view, and most importantly, was private. She certainly came to appreciate the privacy aspect, since it was obvious they would not gain such privacy in her own home if she and her boyfriend wanted to ‘make-out.’
“Here you go,” Naruto voiced, bringing his guest out of her thoughts.
She turned her head to spot her host holding out a half-filled small glass of rice wine to her. Tenten accepted the glass with an appreciative grin. “Thank you, Naruto-kun.” She took a sip at the same time Naruto placed the sake bottle on the coffee table in front of the couch before sitting down besides his girlfriend.
After taking a sip out of his own glass, the Hokage-wannabe smiled reassuringly at her. “Ten-chan, you shouldn’t have let Akane get to you.”
Tenten sheepishly grinned. “You’re right, I shouldn’t have. Sakura kept telling me to relax and not act like a possessive female. It’s just…” Her face scrunched up into a frown. “That girl just wouldn’t leave you alone. I had not acted like this with Neji.” A snort of laughter escaped her being, making her smirk. “Then again, Neji didn’t have any fan girls compared to you.”
Naruto chuckled at the mental image. “If he did, I think he would have used the Jyuuken on them.” Tenten softly laughed at that, making the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki widened his grin, for it brought him joy to hear her laughter.
“You’re right, he would have,” Tenten joked back, her eyes twinkling.
Laughter dying down, Naruto took a sip of his drink before commencing with the conversation. “You know I will not cheat on you, Ten-chan, and I trust you will not do the same to me. I know I will continue to be around other women, and you’ll be around other guys. We can’t avoid talking with other people, you know.”
The brunette kunoichi sighed on what he was getting at, and she had known about this soon after they had officially started dating, for she had went through the same thing with Neji. He would still be good friends with other women he knew, and she would be the same toward the other men in her life. They have to trust each other, when it came to socializing with other people and that each would not cross the line.
With an apologetic grin, Tenten reached out to take hold of his right wrist, since his right hand was holding his drink glass. “I’m sorry if I made you think you’ll stray from me, Naruto-kun. I knew you wouldn’t have done that with Akane, for you did reject her advances. I’ll try to not act like that in the future.”
His left hand reached over to cover her right hand. “It’s okay,” Naruto shrugged, his grinning expression showed he was not upset. “I didn’t say you actually did thought I would cheat on you. Just I know we each will continue to interact with other people. We just have to trust each other that we will not cheat. Besides…” He became a bit sheepish, looking away from her for a few seconds before reestablishing eye contact. “I don’t know why, but I like that you were possessive of me.”
Tenten blinked at first prior to letting a warm grin graced her face. She knew precisely what he was talking about, since Neji had been somewhat possessive of her during their first month of dating. It had brought out a giddy and warm feeling that he was devoted to her, and it warmed her to know that Naruto felt the same way with her toward him. A couple devoted to one another was a couple that would be willing to work out their relationship for the long haul.
“I think all men and women have some possessiveness in them, when it comes to the people they are dating with fondness,” Tenten spoke, before her right hand gripped his left. “I felt the same way when Neji was possessive of me for awhile, and I’m happy to know you like that I’m devoted to you.” She leaned over to kiss his cheek affectionately. “I know you feel the same toward me, Naruto-kun.”
Naruto felt a tug in his heart and couldn’t help but smile because of it. He has only been in this relationship for a month, and he felt his soul has been soaring to new heights ever since. All thanks to this smart woman who was sitting besides him. “That I do, Ten-chan. That I do.”
With that said, the young Toad Sage of Konoha made the first move to show her how he felt by leaning over and kiss her fully on the lips with passion and warmth, and Konoha’s Weapons Mistress responded in kind with equal fervor, moaning into the kiss as she enjoyed the taste and feel of him. The couple was only aware of each other, minds and hearts racing. They truly did not mind this brief flight into adoring oblivion, for they had done it many times since that first magical time at Waterfall Lake, and they had yet to find the electricity between them to lessen at all.
After a couple intense wonderful minutes, the pair parted their mouths and opened their eyes to gaze at one another, and as they calmed their slightly erratic breathing, each warmly grinned at the other. Tenten then tried to snuggle into the crook of his right arm, and Naruto, after moving his drink glass to his left hand, raised his right arm to allow his girlfriend what she wanted. Once she was settled, he wrapped his right arm around her shoulders to hug her, his right hand on her right shoulder.
Taking a sip of her sake, the 19-year-old woman grinned in contentment. With her head resting back against her boyfriend’s shoulder, her brown eyes looked out at the scenery outside the windows with the sun nearly touching the horizon at it began the sunset process. Next to her, her 17-year-old beau was also contented, loving holding her this way as they snuggled together in each other’s touch and warmth.
Konoha’s newest couple has faced a small road bump in their relationship and passed without any major problems. In the process, Naruto and Tenten felt the strength in their newfound devotion to one another, thus they knew they would face whatever to come for them in the future with determination to work things through… no matter what.
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TBC (End of Chapter 6)
A/Ns:
1) Yeah, this chapter is shorter than usual, and it’s because I truly didn’t know what to write about. I have plots lined for the next several chapters, but this one I had some trouble to think of a plot, given it is a go-between between the last chapter and the next one. So, if this chapter seemed somewhat weaker than the previous chapters, it’s due to this minor writer’s block in finding something to write about as a go-between. Yet rests assure that the next chapter will be something exciting compared to this one. :)
2) To be honest, I really can’t see such a situation happening in the village. Naruto pretty much can easily brush off any woman’s advances, but as Tenten saw, with Akane, he has nowhere to run.
I think it would be somewhat normal for couples to be somewhat possessive of one another, especially at the beginning of the relationship, and over time they learn to trust one another when it comes to interaction with other members of the opposite sex. Tenten gets a first taste of this with Akane’s advances toward Naruto. It’s not a major relationship hurdle, I admit, but it is something both Tenten and Naruto have to learn if they truly have to trust each other not to cheat on one another. :)
Story rating: M (R)(for adult and sexual themes)
Written: February 2009-Present
Summary: Love can pop up unexpectedly with someone you least imagine to fall for. NaruTen.
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Unexpected Love
Chapter 6 – A Test in Faith
By JuPMod (aka JPMod)
Humans were a fickle species at times, especially when it came to entertaining themselves. Some would use their free time in the pursuit of hobbies. Others would seek out entertainment in movies, TV, and other leisure activities. Some would even continue their education, and a few would seek doing nothing at all.
Konoha was no exception, when it came to its population seeking out ways to keep themselves occupy during free time. It was why even a ninja village has a movie theater, a few arcades, several bookstores, and many other social activities for the citizens to engage in. Even the well-known small Red Light district has its usefulness at times.
So thus, even close to 9 PM in the evening, people were continuing their individual paths along the lighted streets, when the doors of Konoha movie theater opened and many people came out, having finished watching the movie, which had started two hours previous when there was still light outside. Small groups and single people all went their separate ways from the large three-screen theater.
One particular couple strolled away, talking about the movie they had just saw. They wore no hitai-ate, but those, who knew them, knew they were shinobi, and not just any shinobi, but Konoha’s latest couple – Uzumaki Naruto and Tenten. The grapevine has been abuzz on the young couple, for after all, this was the very first time the Hero of Konoha was dating and with one of the strongest kunoichi of the youngest generations. For some people, gossiping has been another way to take up their time.
“I say that final battle was absolutely spectacular!” Naruto nearly gushed, his left hand fisted and his blues eyes excited as he stared ahead along the path he was walking with his date besides him.
“No argument there,” Tenten grinned up at her boyfriend’s enthusiastic face with her arms wrapped around his right arm. “Although, I like the ending better.”
Naruto aimed a sly smirk down at his brunette girlfriend. “Maybe it’s because the ending has a happy wedding between the hero warrior and the heroine warrior maiden?”
“You know I don’t mind action movies with romance in them,” she replied back, “and that movie was romantic as one can get without making it corny.”
The blond chuckled. “Yeah, that’ll ruin the whole movie if they went too far in the romance department.” Blue eyes faced forward again, his face wistful with a tiny grin. “When I was younger, I thought all the romance stuff was mushy, but in the past year, I came to appreciate it more.” His gaze momentarily locked with hers. “I particularly don’t mind watching romance with you, Ten-chan.”
Tenten couldn’t help but smiled and blushed at his admission. Wanting it, she snuggled her left cheek onto his right shoulder, letting him guide her as they made their way toward her home.
Ever since they became a couple roughly a month ago at Waterfall Lake, there had been times she felt she wanted to be close to him, and this was one of those times. Even though she was a kunoichi, who didn’t need anyone to protect her, it didn’t lessen the sense of security and comfort a woman received when being close to a man she cared about. Besides, she too had been mostly occupied with watching the movie with Naruto, thus there has been no snuggle sessions compared to the last time they’d went to see a movie two weeks ago.
Reflecting back, the brown-haired young woman has to admit that it had been quite a month.
It had not taken long for them to tell their friends they were dating, and everyone had been supportive, especially Ino, who had nearly squealed that she had been right that Naruto and Tenten would eventually become a couple. Neji, Lee, and Gai brotherly had warned good-naturedly to the blond to treat Tenten well or else. Yet such protective threats had not been just limited to the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, for Hinata and Sakura had made similar warnings to Tenten regarding Naruto.
Of course, there had been the usual ‘Bring the boyfriend to dinner at home to meet mother’ event. As it was with Neji, Kyohaku already knew about Naruto and vice-versa, so there had not been any awkwardness during the dinner. He had been a bit nervous, thinking Kyohaku was going to interrogate him to see if he was worthy of her daughter, but the older woman simply was her usual joking self she had been to him before.
The surprise to the Weapons Mistress however had come from Tsunade. She, like Hinata and Sakura, made a warning to the young kunoichi to treat her ‘son’ well, but overall, the older woman was pleased to see Naruto have a girlfriend. Tenten knew the Godaime considered Naruto like an adopted son, but it still had been quite a shock to hear her idol threatened her with a serious face one moment and gave her a supportive smile the next. The whole experience had made the brunette felt like she had passed a test from a royal monarch to date the royal prince.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Naruto eyed his date and warmly grinned upon seeing her unfocused brown orbs looking ahead, telling him she was deep within her own thoughts at the moment. Tenten certainly looked beautiful to him, and it was not just due to the simple button-up white short-sleeved frilly blouse, knee-length blue skirt, black flats, and jewelry comprised of studded diamond earrings and the silver & gold kunai-and-shuriken necklace. Nope, it was also due to her hair was up in a high ponytail with a few loose strands curling in front of her ears and the tailed hair curled and frilly instead of straight. Before they had became boyfriend & girlfriend, the blond only once had seen the weapons-loving kunoichi with her hair down, and that had been by chance last year when he had happened to spotted Neji and Tenten out on a date.
Feeling eyes on her, Tenten broke out of her reverie and gazed up to see Naruto warmly looking at her. “See anything you like?” she teasingly asked with a small grin and a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, you,” Naruto immediately replied, and once more, the young woman felt her cheeks heat up at his flattering remark. Until they had started dating, she had not ever seen this side of him before. It made her wonder where this confident flattering shinobi has been hiding over the years. She certainly liked this Uzumaki Naruto far better than his hyperactive, loud, and brash 12-year-old self.
Giving a tiny shrug, Naruto elaborated further. “To be honest, Ten-chan, as I said before, I like seeing your hair down.” He raised his left hand in calming gesture with a chuckle. “And like I said before, not that I don’t think your buns are unattractive.” This time it was her turn to chuckle as he lowered his hand. “Just until this past month and one time last year, I have not ever seen your hair in any way other than your buns.”
With a pleased expression, Tenten released her right hand to reach back to gently touch her loose hair. “Well, as you might have guessed, I do not style my hair like this just for anyone. I did this for Neji,” her chocolate eyes narrowed at him with her grin becoming warm, “and now I’m doing this only for you.”
It delighted her to see those whiskered cheeks turned a nice shade of rosy red. She was not going to let him just make her blush most of the time.
“Thanks,” the tall young man finally stated, after a minute of trying to find a witty reply and just couldn’t. He opted to just being sincere. “You’re beautiful with your hair loose or in the buns. I’m happy I’m dating you, Ten-chan.”
“And I feel the same way toward you, Naruto-kun,” Tenten smiled with her heart tightened with emotion. She resumed snuggling her head onto his shoulder as they happily continued their journey, enjoying the touch and warmth of their close proximity.
Her mind once more thought of the past month, and so far, their relationship has been great. They had continued their training, done a couple of C-rank missions separately with their prospective teams, and wonderfully at appropriate times exchanged hot kisses that made her toes curl and her blood sing. Overall, it felt magnificent.
Tomorrow would be a big day for both of them. Due to some of their teammates assigned to other missions, the remaining members of Teams Gai and Seven would be working together on another C-rank mission. It was another easy escort where Neji, Sakura, Naruto, and she would guard a wealthy businessman and his teenage daughter to Konoha to conduct business with the village.
“I don’t think there is anything that could go wrong,” the brunette woman mentally chirped, not only about the mission but also about her relationship with Naruto.
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“I am going to kill her!” shouted Tenten in her head. Her expression showed displeasure as her eyes glared daggers at the dirty-blonde girl, who was flirting almost shamelessly with Naruto ahead of her on the dirt road. Despite her boyfriend was brushing off the teenage girl’s advances and just was friendly with her, the girl still tried to get her way with The Hero of Konoha, aka The Toad Sage of Konoha. “Does this girl can’t take ‘No’ for an answer?!”
Upon arriving at their client’s home two days ago, the mission had seemed to be uncomplicated. The businessman, Hiroshi, worried some of his competitors might be out to get him, so he’d hired Konoha’s help to guard him during the trip to the village. His daughter, Akane, had wanted to visit the shinobi village, thus why she was on the trip as well.
However, it had soon become obvious to the four ninjas that Akane, once Naruto was introduced, kept coming on to the Jinchuuriki. His name and rep were well known throughout the Elemental Countries ever since the Akatsuki’s defeat, and the young girl, as with so many others, hero-worshipped Naruto. Even before the group began the three-day walking journey to Konoha, the girl, roughly the same age as The Konohmaru Corps, tried to seduce him. This had not gone well with Tenten. Not well at all, for she had summoned out her mother’s katana and would have given Akana a world of hurt, if it weren’t for Sakura holding her back.
Now, here they were on the third and final day of the journey, and the little she-devil still has not given up, much to the four shinobi’s chagrin, especially Naruto. Hiroshi didn’t seem to mind, for he thought her daughter was just playing, and since the blond shinobi was the strongest among the four, the businessman allowed Akane to walk besides the Toad Sennin, who was strolling second in line with Neji taking point, Hiroshi in third position, and Tenten and Sakura guarding the rear.
Feeling a hand on her left arm, Tenten turned her head to stare into the concern green eyes of Tsunade’s youngest apprentice. “Calm down, Tenten,” Sakura whispered, so no one else could hear her. “Once we reach the village, that little minx will be out of our hair, and once Tsunade-shishou hears our report, I’m sure she’ll assign another team to escort this client home after he done his business.”
“I know, I know,” the brunette woman murmured with some heat. “Just this girl is really grating on my nerves. She keeps hitting on Naruto despite being brushed off and in knowledge that he is my boyfriend.” She let out a sigh while calming down a bit. “From what I remember, none of Naruto’s fan girls in the village were this aggressive.”
Sakura snorted a laugh. “Maybe because they couldn’t able to keep his attention for more than a few minutes before he makes up an excuse to be somewhere else. He then Shunshin away, before they could voice another word. Here, he does not have that option, since he has to escort our client, thus he has to put up with Akane’s advances.”
“Yeah,” Tenten agreed reluctantly. If he brushed Akane off too forcibly, it would be rude to the client. If he ran away, it would be consider rude to the client. In the end, he had no choice but to put up with the girl. Oh, the Naruto of five years ago would have spoken his mind quite assertively, but he had learned tact over time, thus he has gained a whole new level on having patience.
“Besides…” The lips on the pinkette turned up lopsidedly. “Ever since you started dating Naruto, most of the girls of the Uzumaki Naruto Fan Club backed off, especially knowing they stand no chance against a kunoichi of your caliber.”
Tenten smirked at this, even though it was nothing new to her. “I certainly am glad they did.” A giggle escaped her lips. “And I’m sure Naruto appreciates it too.” Both kunoichi giggled this time, knowing the big blond definitely felt relieved that most of his ‘fans’ had stopped pursuing him.
“Come on, Naruto-kun,” Akane smiled sweetly up at the blond. “When we reach Konoha, how about you become my tour guide? You can show me all the sites around.” Everyone, who paid attention to her, obviously heard the hidden meaning.
It was fortunate for Naruto that he was not the clueless kid that he once was. “Sorry, Akane, my duties does not include being a tour guide.”
“Naruto is correct,” Neji added, his eyes still scanning the road ahead of the group. “There are tour guides who are more knowledgeable than him for visitors to use, and Tsunade-sama will not order any shinobi to be tour guides. It’s a waste of resources to do so.” Akane pouted upon hearing this.
Inwardly snickering, Sakura and Tenten knew it was a lie that the Godaime would not order anyone under her command to become tour guides, but they were thankful the Hyuuga Jounin created the lie in order to get the girl off Naruto’s back. Naruto was also thankful for his friend’s help, as he thought ahead of getting to Konoha and getting this girl away from him.
Akane shrugged and immediately lightened up. “Then how about you and I go out to dinner?”
The grin on Tenten’s face dropped, before she snarled lightly at the annoying girl. She was insufferable!
“Patience, Tenten,” Sakura whispered into her left ear at the same time Naruto deflected Akane’s latest proposal. “A few more hours, and it’ll be over.”
The bun-haired kunoichi nodded in understanding, holding back the urge to use the client’s daughter as a pincushion for her weapons. “The end of the mission just can’t come any time sooner,” she thought, as Tenten’s ears heard the newest suggestion by the dirty-blonde vixen in attempting to seduce her boyfriend.
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“… And that’s pretty much the whole mission, Hokage-sama,” concluded Neji as he and his three comrades stood before the Godaime in her office.
“I see,” Tsunade said with a straight face, yet inwardly she was chuckling as her twinkling honey eyes moved from the leader to the only two chuunins of the group, who stood together in the center of the line with the two jounins flanking them. After giving a reassuring grin at the pair, she began writing a side note on the mission papers to be filed. “I’ll assign another team to escort the client back home. None of you will have to worry about meeting the client and his daughter again.”
A collective sigh of relief went through the four shinobi, especially more evident with Naruto.
Glancing up from her writing, the Slug Sannin nodded to the four. “You’re dismissed.” With that said, the group filed out of the room through the exit one by one until the door was closed, leaving behind a mildly amused woman. She kept envisioning the events in her head, thinking it must have been quite frustrating for Naruto and Tenten.
Shaking her head, Tsunade was happy that her pseudo-son was in a relationship, thinking back to her times with Dan. It certainly was not easy to maintain a relationship, given her brief experience on the subject. This occurrence for Konoha’s newest couple would be consider a minor bump, yet for the female Hokage, she wondered how Naruto and Tenten would fair against a major test of their faith toward one another.
One thing was absolutely clear to Konoha’s first female Hokage, making her grin with some pride. “Least I know for certain that Naruto will not stray. He’s far too loyal to become a cheater, and to do so, would be totally unlike him. Knowing Tenten, she too is the loyal kind, so any threat to their relationship would most likely be from outside influence or by mutual understanding that they just are not meant for each other.”
Returning to her work, Tsuande, as she done many times since hearing of Naruto dating Tenten, hoped highly that the whisker-faced young man would eventually find happiness for that part of his heart. After all, after all the suffering he had gone through as a child, he had finally in the last several years gained much respect and recognition, as well as friendship from a group of people he considered family. Now, he was on the road that might bring him love, and if all goes well, a real family in the future.
“Besides, I want to have some ‘grandchildren’,” the blonde sannin smirked. “It’ll be fun to see how the brat will handle his kids, whom could end up being just as hyperactive as he had been.”
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Opening the door, Naruto allowed his girlfriend to enter his apartment first before closing the door behind them. After being dismissed by Tsunade, Neji had gone home to write up the official report of the mission, while Sakura bid the couple good-bye before returning to her home. The blond chuunin had invited Tenten to his home for some snacks and dinner, and the bun-haired kunoichi had accepted.
After dropping her backpack and weapons scroll on the floor nearby the entrance, Tenten proceeded into the living room and flopped onto the couch before closing her eyes tiredly. Her beau dropped his backpack besides hers but strolled slowly toward the sofa, giving a small worrisome grin at the stressful expression on her face.
“You want anything, Ten-chan?” he asked, watching the young woman opened her brown orbs to look at him with a tiny grin.
“Maybe some sake. I could use a drink,” replied the brunette. Naruto nodded once before entering the fully opened kitchen.
While the blonde retrieved a sake bottle and couple of small glasses from the cabinets, Tenten relaxed into the couch’s cushions, her line of sight focusing out the windows to the scene of the bustling village outside six stories below. She came to enjoy the view Naruto’s apartment provided, and it was truly a nice place with two bedrooms, a full bathroom with shower and bath, and living room and kitchen combo. Since his old apartment had been destroyed by the Akatsuki Pain, Naruto had moved into this new place once the apartment complex was built, and having been to his new home only once prior before they became a couple, the Weapons Mistress had knew that Naruto was very lucky to gain a great place to live. It was new with new-fangled appliances, has a great view, and most importantly, was private. She certainly came to appreciate the privacy aspect, since it was obvious they would not gain such privacy in her own home if she and her boyfriend wanted to ‘make-out.’
“Here you go,” Naruto voiced, bringing his guest out of her thoughts.
She turned her head to spot her host holding out a half-filled small glass of rice wine to her. Tenten accepted the glass with an appreciative grin. “Thank you, Naruto-kun.” She took a sip at the same time Naruto placed the sake bottle on the coffee table in front of the couch before sitting down besides his girlfriend.
After taking a sip out of his own glass, the Hokage-wannabe smiled reassuringly at her. “Ten-chan, you shouldn’t have let Akane get to you.”
Tenten sheepishly grinned. “You’re right, I shouldn’t have. Sakura kept telling me to relax and not act like a possessive female. It’s just…” Her face scrunched up into a frown. “That girl just wouldn’t leave you alone. I had not acted like this with Neji.” A snort of laughter escaped her being, making her smirk. “Then again, Neji didn’t have any fan girls compared to you.”
Naruto chuckled at the mental image. “If he did, I think he would have used the Jyuuken on them.” Tenten softly laughed at that, making the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki widened his grin, for it brought him joy to hear her laughter.
“You’re right, he would have,” Tenten joked back, her eyes twinkling.
Laughter dying down, Naruto took a sip of his drink before commencing with the conversation. “You know I will not cheat on you, Ten-chan, and I trust you will not do the same to me. I know I will continue to be around other women, and you’ll be around other guys. We can’t avoid talking with other people, you know.”
The brunette kunoichi sighed on what he was getting at, and she had known about this soon after they had officially started dating, for she had went through the same thing with Neji. He would still be good friends with other women he knew, and she would be the same toward the other men in her life. They have to trust each other, when it came to socializing with other people and that each would not cross the line.
With an apologetic grin, Tenten reached out to take hold of his right wrist, since his right hand was holding his drink glass. “I’m sorry if I made you think you’ll stray from me, Naruto-kun. I knew you wouldn’t have done that with Akane, for you did reject her advances. I’ll try to not act like that in the future.”
His left hand reached over to cover her right hand. “It’s okay,” Naruto shrugged, his grinning expression showed he was not upset. “I didn’t say you actually did thought I would cheat on you. Just I know we each will continue to interact with other people. We just have to trust each other that we will not cheat. Besides…” He became a bit sheepish, looking away from her for a few seconds before reestablishing eye contact. “I don’t know why, but I like that you were possessive of me.”
Tenten blinked at first prior to letting a warm grin graced her face. She knew precisely what he was talking about, since Neji had been somewhat possessive of her during their first month of dating. It had brought out a giddy and warm feeling that he was devoted to her, and it warmed her to know that Naruto felt the same way with her toward him. A couple devoted to one another was a couple that would be willing to work out their relationship for the long haul.
“I think all men and women have some possessiveness in them, when it comes to the people they are dating with fondness,” Tenten spoke, before her right hand gripped his left. “I felt the same way when Neji was possessive of me for awhile, and I’m happy to know you like that I’m devoted to you.” She leaned over to kiss his cheek affectionately. “I know you feel the same toward me, Naruto-kun.”
Naruto felt a tug in his heart and couldn’t help but smile because of it. He has only been in this relationship for a month, and he felt his soul has been soaring to new heights ever since. All thanks to this smart woman who was sitting besides him. “That I do, Ten-chan. That I do.”
With that said, the young Toad Sage of Konoha made the first move to show her how he felt by leaning over and kiss her fully on the lips with passion and warmth, and Konoha’s Weapons Mistress responded in kind with equal fervor, moaning into the kiss as she enjoyed the taste and feel of him. The couple was only aware of each other, minds and hearts racing. They truly did not mind this brief flight into adoring oblivion, for they had done it many times since that first magical time at Waterfall Lake, and they had yet to find the electricity between them to lessen at all.
After a couple intense wonderful minutes, the pair parted their mouths and opened their eyes to gaze at one another, and as they calmed their slightly erratic breathing, each warmly grinned at the other. Tenten then tried to snuggle into the crook of his right arm, and Naruto, after moving his drink glass to his left hand, raised his right arm to allow his girlfriend what she wanted. Once she was settled, he wrapped his right arm around her shoulders to hug her, his right hand on her right shoulder.
Taking a sip of her sake, the 19-year-old woman grinned in contentment. With her head resting back against her boyfriend’s shoulder, her brown eyes looked out at the scenery outside the windows with the sun nearly touching the horizon at it began the sunset process. Next to her, her 17-year-old beau was also contented, loving holding her this way as they snuggled together in each other’s touch and warmth.
Konoha’s newest couple has faced a small road bump in their relationship and passed without any major problems. In the process, Naruto and Tenten felt the strength in their newfound devotion to one another, thus they knew they would face whatever to come for them in the future with determination to work things through… no matter what.
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TBC (End of Chapter 6)
A/Ns:
1) Yeah, this chapter is shorter than usual, and it’s because I truly didn’t know what to write about. I have plots lined for the next several chapters, but this one I had some trouble to think of a plot, given it is a go-between between the last chapter and the next one. So, if this chapter seemed somewhat weaker than the previous chapters, it’s due to this minor writer’s block in finding something to write about as a go-between. Yet rests assure that the next chapter will be something exciting compared to this one. :)
2) To be honest, I really can’t see such a situation happening in the village. Naruto pretty much can easily brush off any woman’s advances, but as Tenten saw, with Akane, he has nowhere to run.
I think it would be somewhat normal for couples to be somewhat possessive of one another, especially at the beginning of the relationship, and over time they learn to trust one another when it comes to interaction with other members of the opposite sex. Tenten gets a first taste of this with Akane’s advances toward Naruto. It’s not a major relationship hurdle, I admit, but it is something both Tenten and Naruto have to learn if they truly have to trust each other not to cheat on one another. :)
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