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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)

Pre-chapter A/N: Sorry that I took so long to get this chapter out. I had spent two weekends in a row at my parents’ home and they do not have a computer. Also this chapter has become the longest one I had ever written thus far. Everything had been written fits with the chapter title as well as being needed to advance Naruto and Tenten’s relationship.

Now I hope the battle came out okay. I’m not so great in writing up battles, thus another reason why it had taken so long to get this chapter out.

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 7 – Another Step Up
By JuPMod (aka JPMod)

There was no denying for a shinobi that battle was an integral part of life. Regardless of gender, a ninja was trained to be a warrior and to kill when needed, for the sake of country, village, and people, especially those who they cared deeply. Oh, most certainly did not love war or the pain and suffering it caused, thus most shinobi sought peace and very few would fall into the darkness in loving to kill. Yet no matter how much peace a shinobi wanted, there would be no escaping the path of battle every active ninja would face in his/her lifetime. It was the way of the shinobi world, as much as anything else in the natural order of things.

So it should not come as a surprise to most upon seeing a battle in the middle of a field next to a river. It was intense with weapons flying, jutsus being cast, and bodies twisting and turning in maneuvers in hand-to-hand combat. The whole scene was typical of any shinobi battle most people came to associate in the Elemental Countries.

However, if one were to pay closer inspection to the battle, it came apparent that no one was being killed and the whole scene was just one giant mock battle. This was what one would expect upon coming across the training of shinobi have with each other, and even though they know better to ever kill one another while training, this did not mean no one was unlikely to get seriously hurt.

Yet despite the dangers, The Konoha 12 and their perspective senseis/leaders were not taking this mock battle lightly. It was rare for all of them to get together like this, thus they knew it would keep their skills sharp and their comradeship tight by training collectively as a whole. Besides, there was no denying all around that this was also fun.

Upon arriving at the Memorial Stone training field in the morning, the whole group had divided into their perspective teams and trained through out the day, pitting team against team. By mid-afternoon, the four teams had engaged in one final battle in a four-way fight. It was extremely rare in the real world to get involved in a three-way battle, nevertheless four-way, but for the four teams, it really did not matter, since the whole battle was almost like a free-for-all anyway.

An hour into the four-way battle, it came to no shock to everyone that most of the competition was eliminated. With everybody either a chuunin or jounin, it was easy to see just how fast people could get ‘killed’ in a shinobi battle. Using a simple way of exclusion, by either full knock-out or close to total chakra exhaustion, the ‘dead’ shinobi sat or stood by the sidelines out of the way as they all watched the remaining four slugged it out – Yamato, Anko, Gai, and surprisingly, Naruto.

“I’m amaze Naruto lasted this long!” exclaimed Ino as she sat under a tree’s shade between Tenten and Sakura with the remaining Konoha 12 and Kurenai standing or sitting around them.

“Ino,” Shikamaru lazily said as he stood against a nearby tree, “you’re forgetting that Naruto defeated Pain, a S-rank criminal shinobi who was the one responsible for killing Hanzou, a S-rank kage of Ame. If the combine might of the Legendary Sannin couldn’t defeat Hanzou, yet Pain did, what does this show about Naruto’s strength if he was able to defeat Pain?”

Before Ino could respond, Shino spoke up from besides the Nara. “Naruto has surpassed us all when it comes to power and skills. He still is lacking some mental skills though that befits a leader, but I noticed that he is slowly gaining those skills over time. I will not be surprise if he does gain the promotion to Jounin rank in next month’s trials.”

The blonde Yamanaka huffed. “I know this!” she yelled before calming down and gesturing to the fight. “Just I’m surprise, that’s all. It’s amazing that he is holding his own against Yamato, Gai, and Anko, especially now they are triple-teaming against him.”

Standing against the tree in front of the four ‘Konoha 12’ kunoichi, Kurenai gave a soft grin. “Ino does have a point. It is amazing to watch Naruto in action. He has come a long way from the loud boy he was in the Academy. I’d thought he would not make it far as a ninja, but I’m glad that he has proven me wrong, for I have no doubt he’ll reach his final goal.”

“To be Hokage,” Hinata elaborated with pride from Tenten’s right. She was one of the first to truly believe Naruto would become Hokage, thus she was happy that many others now believed just as strongly as she regarding the blond getting the position someday.

“Yeah,” Tenten agreed with a small warm grin, as she watched her boyfriend churned up a wind jutsu with his kadachis and easily sliced up Yamato’s wood jutsu.

Shikamaru groaned. “He’s like Temari now with those wind jutsus of his,” he muttered. “Troublesome blondes.”

Tenten, Hinata, and Sakura softly giggled at this, seeing Ino’s right eye ticked. There was no doubt from the blonde’s expression that she wanted to get up and clock her teammate one for that comment. She wondered what Temari would have said and/or done, if she was here right now instead of being in Suna. Maybe the Suna kunoichi would have clocked her boyfriend with her battle fan.

After the kunoichi of Team 10 calmed down and the four girls refocused on the fight again, a sly grin formed on Ino’s face, before she softly elbowed Tenten. “So…” she began, her blue eyes locked on brown ones. “Have you and Naruto… You know… Made love yet?”

Chouji nearly choked on his potato chips, Shino and Neji each raised an eyebrow, Kiba snickered, Sai blinked, Hinata meeped, Lee hanged his mouth open, Shikamaru closed his eyes and muttered again “Troublesome blondes,” Kurenai covered an amused grin with her hand, and everyone, except Ino and Shino, felt their cheeks turned red, especially Tenten.

Sakura elbowed a bit forcefully into Ino’s side. “This is not the time and place for such a conversation, Ino!” she growled. “Especially in front of the guys!” she mentally added.

“I just want to know, that’s all,” Ino innocently replied to her best friend while rubbing her left side where the elbow struck. She turned back to the blushing brunette on the other side of her. “Well, have you made love to him yet?”

Feeling all eyes were on her, the female weapons expert frowned. “Sakura is right, Ino. This is not the time or place to have such discussions. Besides, Naruto and I have only been together for two months.”

Ino was not fazed. “So,” she shrugged with a knowing grin, “I bet you two can’t keep your hands off each other, when you kiss, and when you do kiss him, it makes you want more, ne?”

Feeling her blush intensified, Tenten turned her eyes away to focus on the fight, her lips grimacing. Her fellow kunoichi was not far from the truth, for Naruto and she had been getting more and more physical during their make-out sessions during the past month. Kisses would get more heated and strong, and hands were roaming more across their bodies. There were even a few times he kissed and licked her neck that made her gasped. None of these sessions so far had resulted in the removal of clothes from their forms, for she had stop everything before things went too far.

The smug voice of Ino’s voice roused the bun-haired woman out of her thoughts. “Seems like I was right, judging from those red cheeks. You two just can’t get enough of each other.”

“Ino!” Sakura nearly shouted before once more elbowing the Yamanaka. “It’s none of our business! Do you have any shame that you’re saying such things in public?”

“What things?” Ino chirped. “It’s not like I’m saying any details from a porn book, Forehead.” This made the pinkette blushed harder, her left eye ticking.

Returning her sight on the bun-haired brunette, the wily blonde shrugged. “I was just wondering. After all, it is only a matter of time, before a couple takes it to the next level, one way or another.” Her blue eyes turned to eye Chouji with a knowing look before winking at him. The broad Akimichi bashfully chuckled at what his girlfriend was implying.

Not paying any attention to Sakura’s ranting over Ino’s shamelessness or even the fighting, Tenten’s mind wandered, thinking what it would be like to actually make love with Naruto. As Ino said… It was only a matter of time.

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Turning a book page, Tenten peered at the written words. “Okay now,” she said to her beau just behind her as they snuggled at the left corner of his couch, her back against his chest with him looking over her shoulder “This is what you should do when you’re—”

A gasp escaped her lips upon the sudden contact of his lips in the crook of her neck, interrupting her words. For a moment, her mind was on the feeling of those lips gliding over her skin, but her rational side kicked her back to reality. “Naruto…” she gently admonished, moving her head away to make him lift his head up. “We suppose to be studying,” she added, her eyes moved to stay firm on those wonderful cerulean orbs.

“Sorry, Ten-chan,” Naruto softly chuckled. “Just we’ve been studying for most of the day, and I can’t help but want to feel you more.”

His face was so close to hers that the Weapons Mistress could feel his breath. Oh, how much she wanted to just devour his lips with hers.

Getting herself under control, Tenten swallowed prior to gently chastising him. “Well, pay attention, Mr. Future Hokage. This tactical stuff will help you greatly as a Jounin.” She returned to reading the book with Naruto following suit, and for several comfortable silent minutes, the pair read, allowing her to calm her beating heart.

However, her heart started to quicken again upon feeling those male lips on the move once more, and this time he was kissing along her jaw line toward her ear. Despite being ready for the outcome, her mouth released another gasp and her eyes closed after he gently blew into the ear, and she couldn’t help but moaned softly as he nipped her earlobe.

“Damn you,” the brown-haired kunoichi softly cursed with no heat, for she was enjoying his touch - Not only of that wonderful mouth, but also his hand rubbing over her stomach through the material of her pink T-shirt.

Naruto’s voice was slightly husky. “You taste great, Ten-chan. Forgive me.”

Tenten just have enough of this teasing. Her head swiftly turned to latch her mouth over his, and after an intense moment, her right hand came up to cup behind his head before their tongues began dueling together, making them moan into one another.

As the electricity increased between them, the weapons mistress, without breaking the liplock, rolled her body over, causing the book in her lap to fall to the floor. She settled over her boyfriend and sensually molded her body to his. His groan was music to her, knowing she has an effect on him, and she loved it.

Breaking their mouths apart, both gasped for air, but the next moment the blond’s mouth was back on her skin again, starting with the chin and kissing down her neck to gentle suckle on her pulse.

Mouth hanging over at the pleasure of his lips over her pulse, Tenten just couldn’t believe how much Naruto excites her. Neji had been a wonderful lover, and the few times she had been with him, she had no complaints. Her new beau was different. He certainly didn’t mind taking the initiative, and he was quite bold. Top that with his experience with loosing his virginity to an experienced older woman, Naruto knew what it took to make her pulse speed up.

Wanting him more, Tenten once more passionately latched her mouth on his and just let go. It had been a long time since the last time she had sex, and the thoughts of finally doing it with Naruto was starting to arouse her.

As their mouths dueled with one another, the couple thought they heard some noise, but they brushed it off, staying focused on intimate session. The bun-haired woman moaned upon feeling his hands slipped underneath her shirt, and he followed with a groan once he felt her hands did the same. Her back couldn’t help but arched, when his fingers glided over her spin upward, making her moan loudly in approval of his action.

Growing tire of the kissing and knowing they needed air, Tenten and Naruto broke apart to begin necking each other, loving the taste and smell of the other and the feel of skin under fingers. It was clear to both that they definitely want to go all the way.

Encouraging his fingers’ actions with her moans and mews, Tenten was eagerly anticipating him to unclasp her bra—

“Oh! Look what we have here!” a feminine voice amusedly called out.

With startled yelps, the pair unexpected winded up on the floor, upon Naruto’s sudden rise to get up from the couch. Looking up from the floor, blue and brown eyes took in the sly smiling form of Mitarashi Anko gazing at them from behind the sofa.

Licking her lips, the purple-haired kunoichi’s voice and expression became seductive. “You two look like you’re about to have some fun. How about I join you?”

A red-faced Tenten and Naruto were not amused.

“Anko!” the Weapons Mistress stood up and glared at the smirking woman. “You keep your hands off my boyfriend!” She was not going to let a seductress like Anko get anywhere near her man!

“What you want, you psycho snake lady?!” called out Konoha’s Toad Sage, after he too rose to stand besides his girlfriend. Over the years, he came to respect Anko, as he did with all his superiors, but the older kunoichi still had the tendency to freak him out with her brash and forward ways in trying to seduce him and get to lick his blood. Even today, he has not ever forgotten that first Chuunin Exams, where she nicked his cheek and drank his blood.

Anko snickered “I take your reactions that you don’t want to do a threesome with me. Pity...” She licked her lips, eying Naruto in his black T-shirt and pants and Tenten in denim shorts and T-shirt. “You two look so delicious to lick up, especially you Fox Boy.”

Naruto shivered at what she was implying, while Tenten glowered at the other woman some more.

Deciding she had made them suffered enough, the special jounin laughed and gotten down to business. “The Hokage wants you two in her office right away. She’s calling in both your teams. High priority mission.”

“Thanks,” Naruto said, his voice saying he was not trusting of her at the moment. “You could have knocked or ring the doorbell, you know.”

Instead of looking abash as expected, the older woman laughed. “I did, Foxy. I rang the bell and knocked several times, but you and your girlfriend were so busy turning up the heat that neither of you heard anything.” Anko snickered, enjoying watching the blushes on the young couple turned even redder, and after a few moments, her lips formed that teasing smirk. “Too bad I arrived too early. If I had come a few minutes later, I would have really been given a show and would have joined you.”

“In your dreams!” Tenten hissed, not even liking the notion of Anko being with her Naruto that way. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the fallen book and placed it on the coffee table before facing the blond. “I’ll see you at the Hokage Tower, Naruto-kun,” she grinned, and after seeing him nodded with a warm grin, the brunette felt herself relaxed some more, before she Shunshin away to her home.

Anko’s voice reminded the young man she was still there. “I say, Foxy, you gave me, Gai, and Yamato quite a workout yesterday. You barely won, so I certainly don’t mind working out with you more often.” Her expression became seductive and teasing. “You sure you don’t want me to workout with you and Bun Girl on that other training, hmmm?”

“No!” Naruto yelled before pointing to the exit. “Get out!” With that said the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki quickly strolled into his bedroom and slammed the door shut.

Laughing, Anko had to admit that she hadn’t had this much fun in awhile. The pair was so flustered on the notion of her joining them that they were so easy to manipulate. She just loved getting into people’s minds like this, and ever since she had first met the whisker-faced boy, she had been intrigued. She would not ever cross the line to force anyone into having sex with her, for she did have standards after all, despite the rumors saying otherwise. However, this did not mean she would not tease mercilessly at times.

“Oh, this is going to be fun!” the purple-haired jounin smirked at the notion of ribbing Naruto and Tenten further.

As she Shunshin away, her mind wondered how long it would take for the young couple to develop a thick skin or least fire back as good as she gave.

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Naruto sighed. As he sat next to the campfire, watching Sai and Sakura cook the team’s lunches, his brain questioned why Iwa has to be so arrogant. Ever since his father, the Fourth Hokage, almost single-handedly won the war against Iwa way back then, the shinobi village of Earth Country had kept a grudge against Konoha. A grudge that even extended against his generation for no apparent reason than they were Leaf ninjas, thus Iwa would continue to fight against Konoha for the sake of pride to destroy Fire Country’s shinobi village.

So it had come to no surprise that Iwa would test Konoha’s strength after the Akatsuki and Oto Wars. Being weakened by the wars, it had seemed to be a perfect time for the Rock Village to gage the Leaf’s power to find out whether Konoha could easily be conquered. Yet Iwa had underestimated the quality of Konoha’s shinobi, not to mention their allies, which included almost most of the small border countries between the Earth and Fire Countries, thus seeing they were quite outmatched militarily as well as politically, Iwa had backed off.

Yet, ever since that first incident a year ago, Iwa had occasionally tested Konoha’s patience with small skirmishes against the small border countries. They truly were quite agitated that the number of Leaf Village’s allied countries have grown over the years – Wave, Tea, Bird, Snow/Spring, Demon, Waterfall, and of course, Wind. Konoha were in good graces with Kumo, and recently made diplomatic headways with Kiri. In the meantime, Iwa stood barely alone, and as anyone knew, an animal backed into a corner would become a very dangerous one.

Sighing again, Naruto knew that Iwa had made him their scapegoat. Most of Konoha’s current allies wouldn’t have become allies if it weren’t for him being a hero in the individual countries’ eyes. Top it with him being the new Toad Sennin, the ninja that defeated most of the Akatsuki, including Pain, and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, it was no wonder Iwa were jumpy regarding him. He was currently listed as S-rank in their bingo book with the largest award for his death, surpassing Tsunade.

“Least they do not know I’m the son of the Yondaime Hokage. They’ll flip, when they find out,” the blond mentally said.

Sakura looked at her long-time teammate. “What’s wrong, Naruto? You keep sighing.” Her concern alerted Sai to look at their teammate as well.

Naruto shrugged. “Iwa is really being a pain. Why can’t they get along and let the past be in the past? I don’t think any of the boarder countries like these skirmishes.”

“I agree,” the pink-haired medic concurred. “We just only came off of fighting the Akatsuki and Oto, and now Iwa is testing the political landscape. From what I read in history, such ‘tests’ are made after major wars by nations who wanted to gain something. With Iwa, it’s easy to tell they want to test Konoha’s strength.” Her lips thinned into a frown. “Yet I certainly do not like that Iwa is attacking Waterfall, Rain, and Grass in the past year, and now here they are attacking Bird Country.”

“It’ll blow over as it did with the other times,” chipped in Sai. “Suna’s teams will be here tomorrow to help.”

Konoha’s Toad Sage nodded at that. Since Bird Country was more a go-between between Earth and Wind Countries than it was with Fire Country, Gaara has informed Tsunade that he would be sending two teams to help the Konoha teams and Bird’s army. After all, it would not be good if Iwa took over Bird Country, posing a threat to Wind Country. The combined military actions of Bird, Suna, and Konoha should drive Iwa to stop this latest attempt in bullying.

Feeling a need to lighten things up, Team 7’s kunoichi decided to change the subject with a teasing smirk. “So, Naruto, are you going to tell us what were you and Tenten studying four days ago?” She picked up one of three fishes roasting over the fire on sticks.

A soft chuckle escaped Naruto’s being, thankful for his female best friend for the diversion. “As Ten-chan and I kept telling you, it’s none of your business.” The pinkette giggled before biting into her fish, while Sai grinned before he too picked up a fish to eat.

Four days ago, when he and Tenten had arrived together at Tsunade’s office, the Slug Sannin had asked them, in front of their already assembled teams, what took them so long. The couple simply replied that they had to change into their shinobi clothes, since they had been studying in civvies. Yet the blush cheeks gave away a clue to what had transpired between the two. The Godaime smirked and didn’t press the issue any further before explaining about the S-rank mission to help Bird Country against Iwa’s latest ‘test’ attack. However, this had not deterred Sakura and sometimes Sai in teasingly prying the pair to what had happened, for they were almost relentless during the nearly 3-day journey to Bird Country, where both teams were deployed to guard along one area of the border.

It had been clear that everyone had a good hunch what had happened, but Naruto and Tenten were not going to provide any details to something that was quite private to them. They knew better than that, thus they took the ribbing in stride and would neither confirm nor deny anything.

Snickering upon seeing her friend’s pink-tinted cheeks, Sakura shrugged. “Whether you done the deed yet or not, least you two are protected,” she said casually.

Naruto blinked in confusion at her, and when she saw his bewildered look, she sighed and elaborated. “Birth control, Naruto. Least you two are using birth control.” She took another bite of fish, her words muttering around her chewing. “Kami help you, if she becomes pregnant.”

“Eh?” The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki scrunched up his face in puzzlement. “I know kunoichi are required to have birth control, Sakura-chan, in case they might get raped by the enemy, but I have no idea there is a birth control for shinobi.”

The young apprentice of Tsunade nearly choked on her fish, while both of Sai’s eyebrows raised upward. After swallowing her food, Sakura continued to stare wide-eyed at her golden-haired teammate. “Are you kidding me, Naruto?! You have no idea there is a birth control for men?!”

Seeing that he indeed has no idea, she sighed again, this time out of disbelief that he did not know after all these years as a ninja. “As you should know, there are two birth control ways for kunoichi - a chakra-enhanced pill and a jutsu. Both methods prevent the wall of the womb from accepting a fertilized egg. The jutsu however only lasts for eight hours or so, while the pill lasts for a month. The pill is definitely required for all kunoichi to take before partaking on any long duration mission. A kunoichi might never know she might end up in a situation where she can not use the jutsu due to not enabling to use her hands.

“Male shinobi are different though. In order to prevent fertilization of a woman’s eggs, the sperm needs to be weakened enough, so it can’t truly properly fertilize. However, the potency of the sperm varies from man to man, thus a jutsu would not work well, since a jutsu must be modify depending on the sperm’s potency. A chakra pill was found to be easier to modify to adjust for the man’s potency.” Her lips snarled into a frown. “Yet, for some bias reason, there is no requirement for shinobi to take the pill. If there had been a requirement, I have no doubt you would have been told about male birth control sometime after we had graduated from the Academy.”

“Why is that, Sakura-chan?” asked Naruto. “It’s not like men can become pregnant.”

Sakura rolled her eyes before reconnecting eye contact with her teammate. “Simple, Naruto. Shinobi do interact with civilian women, right? Most civilian women outside the ninja villages have no access to birth control, especially the chakra-enhanced pill. If by chance any of you guys can’t control your hormones and engaged in sex with any unprotected women, there will be high chances of pregnancy. I do not know about the other hidden villages, but I do know Suna and Konoha do not want their shinobi going around making babies everywhere they go. I understand that this has been brought up during the sex education class during the last year of the Academy.”

Blushing heavily on hearing all this, the blond Toad Sennin sheepishly shrugged. “Well, I pretty much thought then that class was a waste of time, since I’d wanted to learn about jutsu and other means to fight. Besides, the instructor for that class always kicked me out. You remember, right?”

Green eyes turned sad and sympathetic with a mental curse to the Academy instructor. Ever since she had learned about Naruto being the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, she had nothing but contempt for all those who had made Naruto’s life miserable. No one in the village had ever physically harmed him, but the mental scars they done by shunning him and ruining his life by other means, like shirking his education, would not 100 percent fully healed. Yet, it was good to see he had prevailed against all odds to become Konoha’s greatest shinobi. Furthermore, she was happy that he had now a large group of friends to stand by his side, including herself, and if his present relationship with Tenten went smoothly, he would finally find someone to love. Of all the adults she knew in this world, Sakura knew no one deserved to be loved unconditionally more than Naruto. No one.

“It’s okay,” Sakura gently reassured with a small grin. “Least now you know.”

Relaxing at her soft expression, Naruto nodded with a grin. “Thanks, Sakura-chan.”

Going back to her meal and watching Naruto took his fish out of the fire, the pinkette realized something, and after swallowing her food, she voiced it. “Well, to be honest, Naruto, I don’t think you need to worry about Tenten becoming pregnant, if you two ever did or will engage in sex. The chakra-enhanced female birth control pill is far the best way to prevent pregnancy, when the male version is not fully reliable. Besides, being a kunoichi, she knows the jutsu as well. I’m glad you’re not the type to go around having sex with various girls, like Jiraiya-sama did.”

Once more, the blond ninja felt his cheeks turned rosy. ”I’m glad I had not bothered to tell Sakura-chan that I’d lost my virginity to Yukie-hime. She would have taken things the wrong way.” He took a bite out of his fish. “Besides, Yukie did tell me she was protected, so I guess she must have had access to those chakra-enhanced pills. Given she is a princess, she would have had no problems getting them.”

Trying to get his mind off the whole subject of sex, the whisker-faced chuunin focused again on his meal, as his two comrades were doing. It was better than thinking about birth control, pregnancy, and the very acts of intercourse, especially since it would lead to him visualizing Tenten naked, sweaty, and in ecstasy within his arms. Now was not the time and place for erotic daydreams.

Many minutes later, after the meals were consumed, a massive explosion was felt and heard from beyond the trees. It was easy for Team 7 to tell that it came from the border with Earth Country, not far from their base camp they had set up with Team Gai, who was currently on border patrol.

Running out of his tent, Yamato, who had a radio headset, was paying attention to what he was hearing on the receiver, and a moment later, he snapped out orders to his three subordinates. “Naruto, Sakura, Sai, move out to the border! Gai reported they’re under attack by Iwa nins! He has requested back-up immediately!”

The three young Konoha ninjas didn’t hesitated, for they launched into the trees for a swift journey to the border to help their fellow shinobi. With Yamato right behind them, they prepared themselves for a fight.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, his mind on his friends, particularly on a bun-haired, brunette kunoichi. He knew she could take care of herself, but it did not stop him from being worried for her.

“I’m on my way, Ten-chan!”

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The battle was intense. The Iwa nins, numbered in about ten males, had ambushed Team Gai. Neji had his Byakugan scanned the areas along the border, but he didn’t expect an attack from below ground. The Rock shinobi had barreled out of the earth and attacked with taijutsu, ninjutsu, and even some kenjutsu.

Remarkably, the four Konoha ninjas held their own, managing to kill three of the enemy, whom at first just flung themselves at their foes. Yet after a few minutes, seeing they were not gaining any ground against these four, they regrouped and began coordinating attacks.

“You’re pretty darn good, girl,” said an Iwa nin, who looked more like a pirate than a shinobi. He toothily grinned and chuckled. “It has been a long time, since I had any action with a girl. I’m sure my friend and I wouldn’t mind you giving us some, once we defeat you.” His friend, standing on the other side of the kunoichi, chuckled at the notion.

Tenten, her dress and pants having a few tares from the initial sneak attack, snarled at her opponent, her hands holding up her mother’s chakra sword. “If you think I’m going to let you get your hands on me that way, you’re mistaken. I’m going to cut off your equipment before you even can use them.”

The Iwa nin was not deterred, even if his friend was now a bit uncertain now. This Konoha girl was no fool, as they have observed. “We’ll see about that, girly!”

Waving his sword, he launched at Tenten, who pared him away, before lobbing a few kunai and shuriken at the other foe, and as she done before, prior to the brief intermission when Rock ninja had spoken, the weapons mistress activated her chakra sword and in time to deflected the second sword strike. After back-flipping away from the Iwa pair, she quickly done some hand-seals, before one hand was over her mouth like a barrel.

“Katon: Karyuu Endan (Fire Element: Fire Dragon Flame Missile)!” A long stream of flames, taking the form of a dragon, sprouted out of her mouth through the hand-barrel and shot out toward the Rock nins, much like a large blow-torch. One of them quickly formed some seals before slamming a hand onto the ground.

“Doton: Doroku Gaeshi (Earth Element: Earth Shore Return)!” A large wall of earth rose in front of the pair, protecting them from the flames, and when they heard Tenten’s snarl a few moments later after she let go of the jutsu, they laughed. “Your fire jutsu will not harm us, girly!”

“Well, how about I give it a shot?!” shouted out a masculine voice from behind and above; a voice quite familiar to the brunette kunoichi.

“Fuuton: Doragon Hando (Wind Element: Dragon Hand)!” yelled the man, and the next moment a large gust of wind swept over Tenten and sliced across the dirt wall horizontally and then another gust vertically. It was like a large clawed hand has come down on the wall. Fortunate for the two Iwa shinobi, they had leaped away just in time or they would have been laying on the ground in pieces.

Laughing, Tenten, her eyes still on the two enemies, called out to her savior. “It’s about time you show up, Naruto!” she joked, knowing he was not really late, since Gai-sensei called for reinforcements only five minutes ago.

Naruto, standing on a tree branch high above the ground, shrugged and goofily grinned. “Sorry that we took so long,” his kodachi-holding hands gestured to his team besides him, “we have to take the long way around to avoid a black cat.”

Konoha’s Weapons Mistress laughed at the silly excuse at the same time Sakura elbowed her best male friend, making him release an “OOF!” “You sound like Kakashi-sensei, Naruto!” the pinkette frowned. “I hope you’re not going to now become late to meetings and such.”

“YOSH!” Lee called out with enthusiasm. “Our comrades have arrived!”

“INDEED!” Gai echoed his favorite student, before his eyes refocused on the Iwa jounin in front of him. “Now that our comrades are here, you will now realize the folly of engaging us in combat, Iwa nin.” His hands rose back up into attack position.

However, the leader was not paying attention to Gai, for his line of sight was now facing up at the Konoha team standing on the branch, namely the sole blond of the group. “It’s Uzumaki Naruto.”

“The Yondaime Hokage clone!” another Iwa nin, one of two facing Neji, shouted and pointed to blue-eyed Konoha chuunin.

The grin on Naruto’s face dropped as he frowned. “Oh, for Kami’s sake! I’m not a clone of the Yondaime!” Ever since Iwa had placed him in their bingo book, they had suspected he was a clone of the late Fourth Hokage. It had become known that Yamato was a clone of the First Hokage, so they must had thought Konoha had cloned the Fourth. ”Yet they’re not really far from the truth that I’m really his son though, thus a clone in some way,” thought the blond.

Ignoring Gai altogether now, the Iwa jounin, who looked to be in his mid-thirties, snarled up at Naruto. “Ever since I heard about you, I always wanted a crack at you, Uzumaki!” With that said, he immediately launched a few kunai with explosive tags at Team 7.

“SCATTER!” Yamato ordered, and the team, in a blink of an eye, dispersed before the kunais hit the branch and exploded with tremendous force.

The explosion restarted the battle anew. With Team 7 added to Team Gai’s might, the Iwa nins found themselves outnumbered by 7 to 8 now. Gai joined Lee, Naruto and Yamato double-teamed against the Iwa jounin, Sakura helped Tenten, and Sai assisted Neji. It was intense.

So for around ten minutes, the two sides fought, and slowly, the Konoha forces were gaining the upper hand. With a stamina powerhouse in Uzumaki Naruto, the Iwa forces knew they would be worn out. However, they didn’t participate what would eventually happen when one of their own saw an opening to take down the brown-haired Konoha kunoichi.

With his teammate managing to keep both Leaf women busy, he did some hand seals before aiming his left hand with two fingers pointing at the bun-haired girl, who was busy with focusing his partner. However, the pink-haired girl did notice him, but she was too late to say anything in time.

“Raiton: Hekireki Tama (Lightning Element: Thunder Bullet)!” A large crackle of electricity radiated round the middle and index fingers before shooting out of the tips toward their target in a single stream of lightning with spokes of electricity around it.

“Tenten, watch out!” Sakura warned loudly to her friend.

Having had learned long ago that it was always best to leap away upon hearing a comrade’s alarm of an incoming threat, the weapons-loving woman instinctually moved a few steps to the side and was preparing to jump, when the single stream of lightning passed over the spot she used to be. However, the electrical spokes caught her, surging electricity into her body.

“AAAAAHHH!” Tenten cried out, her face contorted in pain as she collapsed onto her hands and knees with gritting teeth.

“TENTEN!” shouted Sakura, Lee, and Naruto at the same time. With clench teeth, Sakura rammed a fist into the ground to make her attacker back off to join his companion, while Naruto produced a dozen more Kage Bushin to help Yamato deal with the Iwa jounin. Lee knew Gai-sensei had things at hand, so he was the first to jump to his kunoichi teammate’s side with the pinkette and real Kyuubi Jinchuuriki dropping in a moment later.

As all three knelt on one knee, concerned blue-eyes scanned over the form of his girlfriend before settling on the pained face. “Ten-chan! Are you alright?!”

Painfully and slowly getting up on one knee, Tenten, her face sweating, nodded. “I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not!” Sakura exclaimed. “You took an electrical hit, and it’s clear from outward appearances that you’re in pain! You’re in no position to fight now!”

Yamato’s voice interjected, despite being busy focusing on the Iwa jounin. “Sakura! Take Tenten and withdraw from the battle!”

The Iwa jounin shouted out to his subordinates. “Iwa nins, regroup!” With that said, he swiftly jumped to land many yards away in front of the group around Tenten. A moment latter, the other six Rock shinobi congregated around their leader. “You’re going nowhere!” he snarled just before the rest of the Konoha force, with the remaining Naruto Kage Bushins flanking them, stood beside their friends facing the Iwa group. “You Tree-huggers are just too soft,” he mocked with a smirk. “When one of you go down, you all come to your comrade’s aid. It’ll be your undoing.”

“So, are you saying you do not even care for your comrades?” growled Naruto. “If anyone of you were hurt or killed, would any of you care?”

The Iwa shinobi sobered, their faces becoming impassive. “It does not matter, as long as the mission is complete.”

The blond demon-container shook his head in disbelief. “That’s not how we work in Konoha. Our comrades, our friends, our families… They mean more than missions. We only truly lay down our lives, when the people we care about are in jeopardy.”

“We’re quite aware of your philosophies, but your ways are not our ways.” The Iwa jounin narrowed his eyes. “Now prepare yourselves to die!”

“So much for talking them out of this. They truly are bunch of rock heads,” Naruto mentally said, as everyone in his group grimaced and narrowed their eyes at the Iwa nins. He leaned over to talk to Tenten low enough for her and everyone in their group to only hear. “Ten-chan, how is your chakra reserves?”

The question momentarily threw the Weapons Mistress into a loop, but she replied nevertheless. “They’re okay, just my body still hurts somewhat.”

“Good,” nodded Naruto. “Prepare yourself, Ten-chan. We’re going to use our jutsu.”

Chocolate eyes went wide, not to mentioned a few others in the group. “Naruto, I have not yet mastered my natured-chakra.”

Sakura cut in. “Not to mention that jutsu takes a lot of chakra to perform, Naruto. She has not yet build up her reserves to perform it without suffering chakra exhaustion. ” Everyone in both teams knew of the combo jutsu the couple has been working on in the past three months. They knew Tenten and Naruto had made progress, but nowhere near would what anyone call ‘battle ready’.

Hearing the Iwa nins were about to attack, Naruto called out to his clones. “Kage Bushins! Keep them at bay!”

“Hai!” the clones agreed as one, before they launched themselves at the Iwa nins.

Turning back to his training partner, the whisker-faced chuunin nearly growled. “There’s no time! They’re nearly exhausted, but so are we! All I’m asking is to scare them off! Just hold onto the jutsu until you feel your chakra is almost gone and then, let go of the jutsu.”

Looking deep into those expressive sapphires, Tenten saw the determination and drive that made her boyfriend the best shinobi in their village, but she also saw that he cared for her along with an emotion that ran deeper. All in all, his eyes and expression were telling her one thing now… Trust me.

Placing her faith in him, more now than ever, the bun-haired kunoichi nodded. His hands lifted her up as she held onto her katana, and after he sheathed one kodachi, the blond immediately gotten behind her, using his body to support her as their comrades stood out of the way. She raised her katana, using both hands, while he raised his kodachi in his right hand and used his left to help propped up her hands. With his sword just over hers pointing at their enemy, both began pouring natured-chakra into the mediums, causing the swords to glow in a blue aurora.

A few seconds later, circles of flames and wind began forming around the two blades, but it was not long before the two elements began merging, growing bigger all along the length. Wind strengthened Fire, merging to form a cyclone of power, so potent that the Iwa nins immediately took notice of it as the other Konoha shinobi backed away from their two comrades and the power they were releasing.

As many times in the past three months they had practiced this jutsu, Naruto and Tenten knew when to release it, and when that moment came, they raised their arms skyward and shouted as one their jutsu’s name.

“Kasai Kadou Arashi (Fire Vortex Storm)!” They slashed their swords downward, releasing the power at their foes.

Tall as the trees and wide as a Giant Rasengan, a fast-spinning funnel of fire raced across the land, tearing and burning everything in its path. The Iwa jounin and some others managed to Shunshin out of the way, but an unlucky few were caught, their screams of pain lasted only a few seconds as the Fire Vortex Storm tore them apart and scattered them abroad. The Rock survivors and even the Konoha ninjas would not ever forget this day and moment upon witnessing the birth of a new attack jutsu.

Sweat trickling down her brow and cheeks, Tenten gritted her teeth, trying her best to keep pouring natured-chakra into the katana to maintain the jutsu. Yet after only a minute or so after releasing the jutsu, she felt her chakra was almost depleted, so with a heavy-sigh, the brunette stopped the chakra flow, causing Naruto to immediately follow suit. Instantly, the giant fire funnel stopped its advance and quickly dissipated, and the next moment, Konoha’s Weapons Mistress sagged in exhaustion into her boyfriend’s arms, before he gently knelt down to the ground while holding her against his chest comfortable.

The eight Leaf shinobi gazed at the smoke that filled the air in front of them, but as the smoke cleared, thanks to a slight breeze, they were shocked to see a large swath of land, nearly a kilometer long, was completely charred, torn, and smoldering. This would certainly make for a very interesting report to the Godaime.

Suddenly, an outraged male cry was heard from somewhere in the forest in the distance, no doubt from the Iwa jounin on other side of the border. “CURSE YOU, YONDAIME CLONE! YOU AND YOUR BITCH WILL PAY FOR THIS!” Silence followed for a few minutes, which felt very long to the Konoha group.

Letting out a breath, Yamato and everyone else turned their sights on Naruto and Tenten, who was being checked over by Sakura as the medic knelt in front of her fellow kunoichi. Judging from the labor breathing and the sweaty face, the young woman certainly used up a lot of chakra in the technique, but since she was still conscious, it was clear she didn’t stumble to chakra exhaustion.

After a minute of examination, the Fifth Hokage’s apprentice verified what they all guessed. “Damn it. Just as I thought, you used nearly all your chakra in that jutsu, Tenten,” she frowned. “You cut out just in time. If you had held that jutsu for another minute, you would have suffered chakra exhaustion.”

“But she’s okay,” Naruto added. “It not like she needed to stay in the hospital for several days, as Kakashi-sensei did.”

Sakura frowned even more at her friend. “That’s true, Naruto, but she will need a day or two of rest to recover. What happens if those Rock nins come back? She will not able to defend herself, if we’re busy fighting the enemy.”

“I don’t they will be coming back anytime soon,” Neji stated, his Byakugan activated. “The Iwa shinobi have retreated far from the border.”

“Not to mention that by tomorrow, Suna’s teams will arrive,” Yamato inserted. “We’ll have the reinforcements to prevent another repeat of today from happening. In the meantime, Tenten can rest all she wants.”

The young woman in question felt too weak to even form any words. Tenten was contented in just listening to the conversation and basked in the touch and warmth of her boyfriend’s arms and body. She closed her eyes and just let her head rested against his chest.

“Since Tenten is out of commission,” Yamato continued, “Sakura and Naruto will take her back to base camp. The rest of us will make certain the Iwa nins are truly gone and to check up on Bird County’s forces to find out if they had been attacked as well.”

“Agreed,” Gai concurred to the plan.

After sheathing the second kodachi and gently standing up with his girlfriend in arms, Naruto let his pink-haired teammate take Tenten’s katana and weapons scroll, before he leaped away. Sakura immediately followed, and both made way toward base camp, leaving their comrades to do their job to continue securing the border.

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The door to the second-floor apartment swung open, admitting two people to enter. The bun-haired brunette strolled toward the open kitchen, letting her blond boyfriend to place down her backpack and scroll on the floor at the start of the hallway leading to the bedrooms. He was quite familiar of her home by now, thus he knew where her bedroom was, but he felt it would be wrong to just enter her private sanctuary without her permission, even if it was just to dump her belongings.

With sunlight illuminating the kitchen and living room through the windows, Tenten took out a couple of teabags and cups, before she poured water into a kettle to heat up on the range. She knew Naruto didn’t mind drinking this herb tea she enjoyed. It was soothing to her nerves, and after just coming from the hospital, where she was given a thorough check-up by Sakura, the Weapons Mistress really needed to relax, for it had been quite an eventful two weeks.

When Suna’s forces had arrived at Bird Country, Iwa had pretty much backed off, and like all the other previous skirmishes the Rock village had done, Earth Country claimed no responsibilities, stating their shinobi had been provoked first. With Konoha still recovering its strength from the Akatsuki and Oto Wars and Suna not even close to matching Iwa’s forces, there was nothing anyone could do regarding Iwa not claiming blame for the attacks on Bird Country. Unless they actually went to war, all Konoha, Suna, and Bird Country could do was to berate Iwa and tell them not to attack again.

It was irritating knowing the Rock Heads were almost practically getting away with murder, but the political game told Suna and Konoha that they needed more time to even take on Iwa in a full-out war, even if they had the backing of a lot of other countries. The wounds from the Akatsuki War were still fresh on many minds, and going into another war was something very few even wanted. Many hoped and prayed that Iwa’s leadership change one day or the present administration become reasonable, yet the first scenario was doubtful to happen any time soon and the lateral situation was not even likely.

“Are you okay, Ten-chan?” Naruto asked, as he leaned against the refrigerator, watching her far-away look as she stood next to the range.

“I’m okay, Naruto-kun. I told you many times already I’m physically fine,” the young woman responded with a reassuring grin. He had been somewhat worried for her ever since she was zapped by that lightning jutsu. Three days after that attack, she had mostly recovered her chakra, thus she had been able to perform her sentry duties without problems. Yet Sakura had not been entirely convinced there were no possibilities of any lasting affects. After her thorough check-up upon arriving back in the village, the pink-haired medic insisted Tenten come back for weekly check-ups up to a month to make certain there were indeed no lasting impacts from the lightning jutsu.

Giving a small grin, Naruto shook his head. “I know that already. You and Sakura-chan stressed that to me many times in the past several days, although it does not stop me from being worry, you know.” Tenten chuckled at that. “I’m asking what is on your mind. You have that faraway look on your face.”

Sighing, the 19-year-old woman gave a small shrug. “I was thinking about Iwa and all the crap that we have to put up with them. I understand that all the shinobi villages compete against each other for paying customers and the likes, but to hold a grudge against us, for nearly loosing the last Great War to us, is silly. I can’t see how they can continue to promote hatred for us to their children, who have nothing to do with the war.” Her lips curled up lopsidedly on one side. “I’m not sure whether they’re in their right minds. They keep thinking you’re a clone of the Yondaime Hokage. Now that’s silly.”

“Yeah, it is,” Naruto agreed. However, the next moment, he was thinking of something else entirely.

During the past two months, since he had started dating Tenten, Naruto debated whether he should tell her of his heritage. Because of the S-rank secrecy of his parents, no one in Konoha knew of his birthright, especially his generation. Only a very few knew, including Tsunade, some of the clan heads, like the first Ino-Shika-Cho trio and Inuzuka Tsume, and of course, Kyohaku. His godfather, Jiraiya, knew, according to Tsunade, after the blond had told of his encounter with his father inside the Kyuubi-containing seal during the battle with Pain. Other than these few, no one knew and for very good reasons, as the Godaime had explained to him.

Yet here was an opportunity to tell Tenten, the woman he was dating and cared for deeply. He loved spending time with her, whenever they could, and she was someone he wouldn’t mind spending the rest of his life with. She was a smart and excellent kunoichi. Her sense of humor was close his own, thus why she easily gotten along with his jokes and such. She was tolerable of some of his habits without needing to smash his head into a wall. Further more, he trusted her just as much as he did with Sakura-chan.

Naruto mentally blinked. He trusted her. What more did he need to convince himself to tell her? He knew now what he has to do.

“Yet, to be honest, Ten-chan,” the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki continued, “Iwa was not far from the truth regarding me being a clone of the Yondaime.”

Tenten blinked in confusion. What was he talking about? Was he really a clone of The Fourth?

Naruto pressed on. “What I’m about to tell you is an S-rank secret. This is a secret even more important than the Kyuubi secret had been.”

Now the bun-haired kunoichi was intrigued. Naruto had been full of surprises, ever since she had first met him. The secret of him being the container of the Kyuubi had been quite a shocker, yet now he was saying he has an even bigger secret than the Kyuubi. What could it be?

After seeing her nodded in understanding, the blond continued. “As you know, I was born on October 10th, the day the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. The Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi in me, since I was born that day and he needed a just-born baby in order to successfully seal the demon. Yet, no one ever questioned to why he has chosen me.”

“What?” Tenten scrunched her face in total bafflement. “You said it yourself, Naruto-kun. He needed a just-born baby, and you had happened to be born at the time. What more does anyone need to know why he’d chosen you?”

His mouth moved up into a somewhat sad grin. “From what I was told about The Fourth, he was kind and unselfish person, putting his well-being below that of the village’s needs. Knowing him, Ten-chan, would he have asked any villager to sacrifice his or her just-born child to become a Jinchuuriki in order to save the village?”

Brown eyes blinked at first upon hearing his question, before her mind focused on the issue. After a few moments, Kyohauku’s daughter nodded once. “From what I read and been told about him, the Yondaime was quite self sacrificing. He would never ask a member of the village to make a sacrifice that…” Her voice trailed off as her eyes went wide upon finally connecting the dots. It all now made sense to her. “That he wouldn’t done himself,” she nearly whispered, her sight never leaving those of her boyfriend’s.

Now that she knew, Tenten really took in Naruto’s appearance. The blond hair. Those blue eyes. The answer had been in front of everyone all along, and yet no one even expected it.

“Oh, Kami,” she voiced low, her right hand over her heart. “Naruto, are you saying…”

Naruto grinned softly as he nodded once. “I’m his son.”

Tenten knew she was shocked big time. This indeed was a revelation bigger than the Kyuubi. To know that The Fourth Hokage had a son… A son! A son that he sacrificed to become the container of the Kyuubi in order to save Konoha. All this time, Naruto was practically royality, and no one knew.

Yet there were still some nagging questions regarding this news.

“I don’t understand,” the brunette finally spoke after a couple of minutes of taking in this incredible news. “Why the secrecy?” Her chocolate orbs became sympathetic and somewhat sad. “If everyone knew you were the son of the Yondaime, you wouldn’t have grown up with so much hatred toward you.”

Naruto felt his heart skipped upon seeing those sad eyes and hearing what she said. He now knew he made the right choice in telling her. “It’s simple, Ten-chan,” he grinned reassuringly with a tiny shrug. “Baachan explained to me, and it made sense. My Dad had made a lot of enemies, both inside and outside the village. What do you think would have happened if say Iwa knew I was his son?”

The answer came to her mind immediately, for she sighed and shook her head sadly. “They would have sent assassins after you. Your entire life would have been in peril from the start.”

“Exactly,” Naruto confirmed. “Hokage-jiji knew it was dangerous for everyone to know about my heritage. He had me taken my mother’s family name, since she was from the Whirlpool Country, which had been destroyed by Kiri. This way no one would have expected I was the son of the Yondaime, who everyone knew as Namikaze Minato. Only a very few knew of the secret,” his lips turned into warm grin, “and that includes your Mom.”

Tenten chuckled at that, her left hand coming up to wipe away the tears forming in her eyes. It made sense that her Mom knew. She’d had told her that she and Dad were good friends of The Fourth, so it should not be a surprise that Mom knew Naruto was his son. It also explained why his mother gave away the kodachis to Naruto, for it was his by birthright.

A simple curious question came to her mind. “What was your mother’s name?”

“Her name was Uzumaki Kushina, a strong redhead kunoichi in her own right” he replied with a somewhat sad yet proud grin. “Baachan said she died shortly after giving birth to me. The combination of the stress from the birth and the Kyuubi’s killing intent and foul chakra, which everyone in the village felt, were just too much for my Mom to handle. Shortly after, Dad left with me to face the Kyuubi, and the rest, as you know, was history.”

A small chuckle escaped his lips. “Baachan told me that my personality resembles my Mom’s more than Dad’s. If that’s true, I have a feeling Mom would have gotten along well with you, Ten-chan.”

A warm grin graced the Weapon Mistress’s face, for she wouldn’t have minded to meet Naruto’s mother, if she was indeed close in personality as her son. It made her wondered how things would have gone differently, if Kushina had lived. Would Naruto have grown up to become a strong shinobi much sooner? Would his personality be different? Would he and she still eventually get together?

Mentally shaking her head, Tenten immediately decided that such questions were not wise to dwell on. What was important to her was that Naruto did grow-up to become a great shinobi and young man that any parent would be proud of. Pondering on the ‘What ifs’ would not gain her anything, especially since there were just too many factors in life to ever get a true correct answer to what history would have been like if Uzumaki Kushina had survived.

The kettle started whistling, indicating the water was ready. However instead of pouring the water into the cups after she turned it off, Tenten took a few steps toward her boyfriend to wrap her arms around his back to warmly hug him, her head resting on his shoulder. It had been a long time since they had touched this way, thus she found she had missed this intimacy. It felt good, and she felt her boyfriend returned the gesture with equal warmth.

Opening her eyes, she was greeted by those expressive blue orbs gazing warmly at her, making her heart skipped. The young woman was reminded again how handsome Naruto was as a man, not to mention his kind and gentle soul.

“I’m glad I told you about my parents, Ten-chan,” Naruto mentioned, after a couple of minutes of gazing into those soft chocolate eyes. “I trust you with my life, more than ever now.”

Her heart instantly clenched strongly at his words as her eyes became moist. She quickly buried her face in his shoulder, while her hands clenched the back of his haroi, for her emotions were beating heavily inside her at the implications of those two sentences.

He trusted her that strongly. There was no doubt she was the first of their generation to know of the secret of his heritage, and it made her heart soar that he placed this must trust in her. So much that he was willing to trust her with his life more than ever now.

Smiling widely, Tenten couldn’t help but shed some tears, for her heart was bursting with an emotion, which could only be described with one word… love. Here was a man who experienced the worse emotional ridicule as a child, yet he endured with his heart and soul intact and still wanting to protect others with all his being. Here was a man, who went through hard work, sweat, struggle, and even pain to become one of the strongest shinobi of the village, if not the world, and would no doubt be Hokage one day. Here was a man, who trusted her explicitly with his life as well as the knowledge of the greatest village secret ever above him being the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. There was no doubt in her heart that she was falling for him… hard.

“Ten-chan?” asked Naruto, a bit concern for her sudden reaction. He could feel her body was shaking a bit, not to mention her hands had for a few moments clenched the back of his haroi.

“I’m okay,” she murmured before raising a happy face to gaze into his concern one. “I have not felt so much love and trust like this.” She quickly wiped her eyes, yet her warm smile did not diminish. “Thank you, Naruto-kun. Thank you for telling me about your parents and placing your trust in me that much.”

Once more, Naruto knew he made the right decision to tell her. To see her face full of love and happiness was worth it, and it made him grinned back with equal feeling.

His left hand reached up to palm her right cheek affectionately, his thumb wiping away the tear stains. “You’re welcome, Ten-chan.”

The brown-haired kunoichi softly laughed, loving him sweetly kissing her left cheek. Yet when his lips quickly covered hers in a deep passionate liplock, she couldn’t help but feel her heart clench strongly, causing her to fling her arms around his neck to return the gesture with equal intensity. She moaned into his mouth upon feeling him pulled her body against his, loving the touch, taste, and feel of him, and when the blond shinobi moaned into her mouth, she knew was lost and wanted to be in his arms… forever.

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As she watched the young couple kissed with so much love and passion, Kyohaku wistfully grinned. Naruto and her daughter had told her what had happened on the mission when they had first arrived many minutes ago down in the shop. Taking a break, she had wanted to ask some more questions, but when she had gently opened the apartment door, the weapons-maker overheard their conversation and decided to listen without her interference. She was glad now that she had kept quiet.

Closing the door gently to not disturb the loving scene, which made her heart ache in memories of the love she had with her late husband, the green-eyed older woman quietly ventured downstairs back to the shop.

“Naruto-kun is right. You would have gotten along well with my Ten-chan as I am with your son, Kushina. I miss you and Minato both, my friend. However, if all goes well, I will not mind to welcome your son into my family officially as my son-in-law.”

So Kyohaku returned to running her store, knowing once more that love has made the world today a brighter and happier place to be for her daughter and suitor as it did with her and the man she loved.

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TBC (End of Chapter 7)

A/Ns:

1) I had at first wanted to use Kakashi to be the one to interrupt Naruto and Tenten’s ‘make-out’ session. Given his personality, he wouldn’t have minded teasing them relentlessly. However, due to not even being certain he is officially dead in the manga, I’d changed my mind and decided not to use him. Anko came to my mind, and I thought she’d be perfect to tease the couple. She would not ever cross the line to actually seduce Naruto, but boy she would tease them. XD

And no, sorry, but as I said, Anko will not be seducing Naruto, so there will not ever be a threesome. This is solely a NaruTen fic, thus Naruto will only be making love to Tenten. ;p

2) I had recently paid DKSTUDIOS05 to do a commission for me base on a scene from “Unexpected Love”. It’s from Chapter 4 where Naruto stands behind Tenten and they hold their swords out, pour natured-chakra into the swords, and watch the development of the wind and fire chakras merging. It’s a nice semi-romantic scene, and DK done a wonderful job in drawing the art!

So check out the art! The link to the art can be found in my author profile page, or copy-and-paste the following URL and remove the spaces…

http:// jupmod . deviantart . com art Fire-and-Wind-NarutoTenten-118795276

3) Katon: Karyuu Endan (Fire Element: Fire Dragon Flame Missile) – A B-rank technique that shoots out a stream of flames in the form of a dragon, according to online sites. The Third Hokage used this technique against Orochimaru during the Oto-Suna Invasion of Konoha.

Doton: Doroku Gaeshi (Earth Element: Earth Shore Return) – A C-rank technique for defensive purposes. It creates a wall of earth out of the ground in front of the user. According to online sites, it’s not perfect, given it only protects the fronts and not the sides. Also it can be easily drilled or punch through. Jirobo (big guy of the Sound Five) used this technique in the ‘Sasuke Retrieval’ arc.

Now, anyone is wondering why I had written a C-rank Earth technique easily defeating a B-rank Fire technique. If one thinks about it, it makes sense. Unless fire can drill or punch its way through earth, it can not beat earth, especially if the layer is thick enough. The Iwa nin brought up the wall just when the flames reach him, thus the flames were easily deflected. The rank of a technique measures the power level, but this shouldn’t be use to judge whether one can beat another. If power were everything, a single X-Wing fighter wouldn’t have easily beaten the Death Star, eh? It boils down to how the techniques are used as well as the power level. ;)

Besides, Tenten has been training her natured-chakra for only four months. She has not mastered natured-chakra manipulation yet, thus she could only hold a high-rank technique for so long, not to mention she would drain her chakra reserves very quickly the longer she holds a high-rank jutsu. So thus, this is another factor why a B-rank fire jutsu was defeated by a C-rank earth jutsu.

Fuuton: Doragon Hando (Wind Element: Dragon Hand) – A wind jutsu Naruto created for offensive purposes, which I placed as B-rank, maybe lower A-rank. It creates a gust of wind that slices across an object, making it look like it was sliced by a giant clawed hand of a dragon.

Raiton: Hekireki Tama (Lightning Element: Thunder Bullet) – Yeah, yeah, I took the idea for this jutsu off Avatar: The Last Airbender. A lightning jutsu that shoots out a stream of lightning out of tips of the middle and index fingers. Unlike the A:TLA technique, the also has spokes of electricity radiating off the main stream, so even if the target was not hit dead-center by the main stream, the target can be hit by the side spokes of electricity. I would rate this jutsu least A-rank, for if one gets hits by the main steam, you’ll be dead. Yet the side spokes can still pack a punch, as Tenten found out.

Kasai Kadou Arashi (Fire Vortex Storm) – An attack jutsu that is formed by combining Tenten and Naruto’s natured-chakras. This technique was the result of their combined training that started at the end of Chapter 4, when they accidentally discovered their chakras merging through their swords. Her fire is strengthened by his wind, and together, they formed a vortex/tornado of fire that burns and cuts through anything in its path. I placed this as A-rank, maybe lower S-rank.

Yet despite the success of their combo attack, as mentioned, Tenten nearly drained her chakra to keep the technique going long enough to do its job. Until she masters natured-chakra manipulation as well as increase her own chakra reserves a bit, this combo technique can’t be use often by the couple.

4) I don’t know about anyone else, but I believe Iwa would likely be the last holdout against making peace with Konoha. I bet Kishimoto would unite all the villages against the threat of Akatsuki in the manga. Yet if Iwa holds a grudge against Konoha for what the Fourth Hokage did during the last Great Shinobi War, I really can’t see Iwa being cooperative. Heck, in this fic, the battle against Pain was only less than two years ago, so it’ll still be some time before Iwa would change its tune. Peace still has some way to go in the Naruto world in this fic.

5) Last, I hope everyone enjoys this very long chapter. As I mentioned, everything written in this chapter fits the chapter title thus showing the progress Naruto and Tenten made, not only in their relationship but also in their training. They came a long way, since they had started training together, and they took another step in their relationship. It will not be long until they… ahem… consummate their relationship. ;)