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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)

A great big ‘Thank you!’ goes to Weixuan18 for betareading for me! Thanks! (big grin)

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 11 – Healing Hearts
By JuPMod (aka JPMod)

For many in the Elemental Countries, nobility was the pinnacle of power. The daimyos, nobles, elite clans, and even very wealthy business people were all living symbols of the upper class and their influence on the majority of people throughout the lands was undeniable. These people were treated with dignity and respect, even if the personalities of some made most think otherwise.

So it came to no surprise to the citizens of Konoha that the granddaughter of the Fire Daimyo appeared to be an uptight and aloof young woman, who carried herself with pride and dignity of a well-groomed aristocrat. After all, if one were to be raised within the Fire Daimyo’s royal court in the capital, people would expect mostly to see a well mannered and knowledgeable person who knew of the social workings of the high class, while not surprising to be a prude in some ways.

This was what everyone saw as she walked down the street in a stylish blue-green half-kimono with black slacks and simple sandals. Her long midnight-colored hair was in a bun with two hair sticks seen. Yet most importantly, the twenty year old woman held an air of superiority around her, giving the impression that she thought others were beneath her. It was seen in the way she walked, acted, and displayed in her sharp green eyes. She was definitely a child of nobility through and through.

Walking besides her, Uzumaki Naruto, wearing his shinobi attire, did his best to be the best gentleman he could be to the noble woman, but in all honesty, he wished he was somewhere else than playing tour guide to a snotty female. Since the engagement announcement two days ago, the blond was doing his best to be friendly with his supposed ‘fiancée’, but the brunette just made it difficult. How could he even connect with his future ‘wife’ if she was not even being cooperative?

“Kyoko,” Naruto tried again after many minutes of walking around with no destination in mind. “I know you would rather be back in the guest suite at the Hokage Tower, but Tsunade suggested that I give you a tour of the village. It will go quicker if you just cooperate and follow me. Walking down every street will not help you know the village better.”

The Fire Daimyo’s granddaughter stopped to face the taller man. “Well, we would have done that if you had guided me as you should have done. Instead you kept asking me where I wanted to go, when I clearly have no idea where to go. So with no idea in mind, I decided I might as well walk down every street to know the village better. After all, when we get married, I’ll be living here instead of the capital.”

Naruto sighed. She made a very good point. It was just that he was not good in being a personal tour guide compared to the few civilians who knew all the village’s attractions and history. It was why they were the official tour guides and not a high-ranking shinobi, who did not know everything about his home village despite growing up in it.

“I apologize, Kyoko. You’re right,” he smiled a bit, trying to appease her. “Follow me.” With that said, he led the way back toward the Hokage Tower, and Kyoko followed with a sniff and rolled eyes.

Sighing again, the whisker-faced jounin wondered for the millionth time why he was chosen to marry this girl. As far as he was concerned, the entire ‘arranged marriage’ deal just felt so wrong and out of place with their modern-day society. Heck, after just meeting Kyoko, he had bad vibes regarding her, and so far, those feelings were proven to be correct.

“She’s definitely not Ten-chan,” he mentally admitted.

That statement brought the big blond to think once more of the Weapons Mistress of Konoha, making him feel mentally depressed again. It had been four days since the so-called ‘break-up’ and his heart still was in the many pieces shattered on that day. He had bumped into Tenten a few times since, but they were brief moments where they said “Hi” before she quickly departed with a fake-smiling excuse to be somewhere else. If only she gave him a chance to talk, maybe they wouldn’t be so uncomfortable around each other now, especially her behaviour towards him.

They said that beauty was only skin-deep, and Naruto clearly could see that with the differences between Kyoko and Tenten. The noble woman definitely was a beauty with her smooth skin and great womanly figure and some toned muscles in arms and legs showing she had worked out somewhat, but her body did not have the strong shapely tones Tenten had as a kunoichi after many years of training. The raven-haired lady had a personality of a cold fish, while the brown-haired female ninja was warm and friendly, strong and determined. Overall, the weapons-loving kunoichi was a better person than Kyoko in his eyes.

Many minutes later, the pair arrived at the top of the Hokage Tower, which provided the best close-up view of the Hokage Monument anywhere in the village from the ground level. Naruto knew Iruka-sensei still brought first-year Academy students here on a field trip when he explained about the history of the Hokages. Even the official tour guides use the Hokage Tower to show off the monument while giving a quick secured tour of the tower. To the Hokage wannabe, the only better views of the Five Hokage Heads would be from the sides or the top of the cliff looking down.

Kyoko didn’t seem impressed. “Why did you bring me here? I already know about the Hokage Monument, thank you very much.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her. “Do you know about the history of the Hokages?”

“Of course,” she replied grandly. “I know the history of my nation, including the history of the five Hokages.” Her finger pointed to the fifth stone face. “I know that Tsunade-sama is the first woman to become Hokage as much as my grandmother was the first female Fire Daimyo. Tsunade is the greatest medic in the world as well as a great warrior renowned for her super strength.”

“Yeah,” the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki agreed, giving her points for what she knew, “but do you know that Tsuande-baachan is a huge drinker of sake? She’s not an alcoholic, just that she loves to drink. Also do you know she loves gambling? Did you ever hear of her nickname ‘The Legendary Sucker’?” Given her shock reaction, it was clear that the answer was ‘no’, making the blond chuckled. “Come on, I don’t believe you do not even know that, for her legendary name is well known through out the gambling industry.”

“I certainly did not,” Kyoko responded, still flabbergasted upon hearing of such private information regarding the Godaime. “Besides, what you stated was her personal history, not actual history taught in school.” She crossed her arms and gave an air of indifference. “Also, I do not gamble. I do not ever spend my money on such wasteful endeavors.”

Rolling his eyes and giving a smirk, Naruto actually knew of a few noble lords, who love gambling. Jiraiya and Tsunade had even told him of stories of meeting similar people in their travels. With so much money, some of these upper-classers have nothing better to do than to gamble away their riches. Some though, get so addicted that they ended up losing everything in the end, while others knew when to stop and not go overboard. It was too bad Tsunade had not learned when to stop, for she would not have been so deeply in debt, if she had learned. Then again, given the Slug Sannin always lost, how could she learn to stop if she didn’t win occasionally?

Putting aside the thoughts on Baa-chan’s gambling hobby, an idea sprang from the young man’s mind. “Well, how about I show you a different view of the monument then?”

Kyoko raised an eyebrow. “A different view?”

Naruto nodded in affirmative. “That’s right. You just have to trust me that I will not invade your personal space more than necessary in order to Shunshin to the destination.”

The black-haired woman thought about it for a moment before giving a nod of consent. She was aware of the Shunshin jutsu, since she had seen the Twelve Guardians done it, and a few times she had ridden through a Shunshin with them, when one of them would help transport her from one location to another during times of importance. One of the things she knew was that she had to be in close proximity with the Shunshin’s caster in order for her to ride the jutsu with the user.

Seeing that she was calm, Naruto took a few steps to stand right in front of Kyoko, almost touching her body to his. The next thing the royal lady knew, she was surrounded by smoke and felt a pull on her body before the smoke clear. Her dark-blues scanned to her left, causing her to gasp.

Right before her was a spectacular view of all of Konoha, and after taking a few steps forward, it was clear to Kyoko that they were now on the cliff above the stone faces, for the Hokage Monument was below her. From the looks of things, it was easy to tell that she was specifically above the Yondaime’s head. Her lips couldn’t help but form a tiny grin at the grand view of the village.

“Great view, eh?” Naruto’s voice brought the Daimyo’s granddaughter out of her thoughts, reminding her that she was not alone. Turning to her ‘fiancé’, she saw he was grinning, thus she couldn’t prevent the slight blush from forming upon knowing he saw her grin.

Ignoring her rosy cheeks, thinking she would be embarrassed for him to mention it, the blond shinobi faced the view of his home village. “Not many civilians ever bother to make the long trek up the mountain by the cliff-face path,” he said, before he pointed to the winding pathway going up the mountain’s side. “Most ninja in the village can easily make it here by using Shunshin or by quickly jumping up the mountain.” He smiled and faced Kyoko. “I thought you would enjoy the view, thus why I brought you here.”

Trying to compose herself, especially from seeing how good-looking Naruto was when he smiled like that, Kyoko cleared her throat and aimed to return to giving a stoic expression. “It is a great view. Thank you for bringing me here.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied before turning back to the wonderful view, escaping to his own thoughts and allowing Kyoko to her own privacy.

To the blond young man, this spot was one of his favorites in the entire village. Very few people bother to come here, even though it provided the most splendorous view of Konoha. With almost complete privacy, Naruto knew he could come here to think and be alone when he wanted to be. Only a few people he trusted explicitly knew of this place, if they needed to find him – Tsunade, Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-taichou, Sakura-chan, Iruka-sensei, Shikamaru, and… Tenten.

Naruto dropped the smile and closed his eyes upon thinking of the bun-haired kunoichi once more. It was hard for him not to think of those chocolate eyes and brown tresses that were soft to his fingers. Whenever she smiled, she radiated warmth and love. The way she touched him conveyed affection. Ever since his feelings for her had evolved into more than friendship, he just couldn’t think of any other woman other than her.

Sighing, the tall Jounin knew he really needed to talk to her soon. Not just a few words and parting ways, but a real, sit-down, thorough discussion between them. He missed her, and very much wanted to see her, but it seemed she was the one who was running away. If only she would just let him speak for five minutes at least!

“I think this is enough,” Kyoko spoke, breaking Naruto out of his girl-trouble musings. “A nice view, nothing more.” She began walking toward the nearest ramp that leads back down to the village. “Let us take the long way down, this time.”

Giving a tiny shrug, Naruto fell in step just behind the female aristocrat.

As they began the descent down the ramp walkway, the eighteen year old Konoha shinobi felt that he won a tiny victory. For the past few days, the brunette woman was nothing but a cold fish, showing off an air of superiority. However, minutes ago, he saw for the first time when she had slipped off that snuck-up expression and displayed an actual grin. It was definitely not a forced grin, like she would sometimes display when being polite.

Smiling to himself, Naruto felt that it was good that the Daimyo’s granddaughter was human after all, even though he still thought she had a stick as large as an electrical pole riding up her butt.

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Small explosions ripped through the open grassy field as a couple of masculine silhouettes jumped into the sky to avoid the destruction. Once they landed, the duo raced forward as fast as they could to try catching their opponent in close-range combat, which was in their advantage. However, the two men were barraged with kunai, shuriken, and few explosives, foiling this latest attempt to close the gap.

After avoiding another explosive kunai, Hyuuga Neji, Jounin prodigy of the Hyuuga Clan, quickly considered the options, and once more he concluded that in order to get in close to the adversary, a distraction would again be the best idea. Yet no matter what he and Lee did, it seemed their foe was not letting them through her defenses, showing how much she had indeed improved over the years.

“It seems she is not going to even let us get near her, Neji,” Lee spoke up as they peered into the cloud of smoke.

“Yes,” the brown-haired Hyuuga agreed. “Even if we do close the gap, she will likely use that chakra sword against us.”

“Very good observation, Neji,” chirped a female voice as a feminine form strolled out of the smoke to stand before the two men. With a flick of a wrist, she unsheathed her katana and began pouring chakra into it. It was not long before the flames appeared along the blade’s length, making her smirk eagerly. “Try to dodge me this time!”

With that said, Tenten launched into the air and yelled a battle cry as she descended down on her two teammates.

Neji was swift to avoid the strike as she landed, and just as Lee was going to attack, the Weapons Mistress brought her sword around in a horizontal arc to throw a crescent line of fire at the taijutsu master. The green spandex-wearing man had to leap out of the way to avoid getting burned. With fire in her brown eyes, Tenten pressed the attack, not letting up on the pair.

As the fight continued with both men mostly dodging attacks with very little opportunities to strike back, Neji and Lee truly admired how far their female comrade had come in the months since her training with Naruto had begun. Her speed had increased, her reflexes were sharper than ever, and furthermore, her arsenal now included Katon jutsu along with her mother’s chakra katana. She was still mostly a long-range fighter, but her nature manipulation training combined with the chakra blade made her close-range skills more dangerous than she was without them.

Yet, despite appearances that she was okay, the two men also knew right now Tenten was hurting from within. It had been several days since the ‘break-up’, and the kunoichi was not truly herself. She had spent two days at home, having avoided the engagement announcement, and the day after, she emerged to join her team in training. It did not take a genius to see the pain in those brown eyes, and her attacks had some anger behind them. Yes, it was clear her heart was still very much wounded.

“HALT!” hollered out a familiar man’s voice, causing the three young adults to stop the fight. They turned to face the approaching man, who had trained them ever since they became genins. Even after all these years, they still respected Maito Gai, even if two of them still thought his personality was a bit warped and that green spandex suit was horrid to look at.

“Well done, my youthful students!” Gai proclaimed grandly. “You all have come so far, especially you Tenten! You truly have displayed the power of youth!”

“Indeed, she has, Gai-sensei!” boasted Lee with a raised fist. “Unless Neji and I go full out on her, we can not get past her youthful defenses!”

“Then you just have to train harder, my youthful student!” the older jounin suggested. “You just to train until you are fast enough to catch up with Tenten without the need to remove your weights!”

Lee pumped his fist. “YOSH! I will, Gai-sensei! You truly are an inspiration to all!”

The two similar dressed men hugged each other as they sprouted out each other’s names in ‘youthful’ fashion.

“LEE!”

“GAI-SENSEI!”

“LEE!”

“GAI-SENSEI!”

A short distance away from the two hugging and laughing Green Beasts of Konoha, Tenten sweatdropped as she shook her head with a smirk, “After all these years, those two have not changed much at all.”

“Indeed,” Neji agreed with a sweatdrop, his eyes closed to prevent taking in the silly spectacle. Even after all these years of seeing Gai and Lee hug like this, it still made him squirm inside. After all, as far as he was concerned, men should not hug like this. Not ever.

After Gai and Lee ended their hug festival, the lone kunoichi of the team began walking toward the nearest tree while calling to her male colleagues over her shoulders. “I’m taking a break. You guys can continue training without me for awhile.” With a quick flick of her wrist, she sheathed her mother’s sword before rolling up her giant scroll as she walked.

Gai nodded. “A good idea, Tenten. While you and Neji rest, Lee and I will continue our youthful training.”

“YOSH!” yelled out Lee before he took a taijutsu stance, which his long-time teacher followed suit. Both men didn’t pay any heed to the Hyuuga genius as he strolled away to join the bun-haired female ninja, who took a seat at the base of a large tree along the field’s edge.

Instead of sitting, Neji rested his back against the tree to Tenten’s left. Not only did he watch Gai and Lee’s spar, but he also paid attention to his kunoichi friend as she removed a small scroll from her belt and summoned out a bottle of water to drink. She took a few gulps of the cool liquid before sighing and resting her head back against the tree.

As the minutes passed, the silver-eyed jounin took notice that Tenten was not paying attention to the spar at all. Being serious about being a strong kunoichi, she had always paid attention to spars and fights between others, so she could see whether she could pick up something to incorporate into her style. Today, however, her eyes slowly took on a far away look, which was a clear sign that her mind was not even focused on the here-and-now. Furthermore, her face morphed into a forlorn expression.

Neji frowned. It didn’t take much to figure out what was causing his female friend’s mood, for everyone associated with the Konoha Twelve knew how heartbroken Tenten was to break-up with Naruto, not to mention the Hyuuga had actual experience with this. It was quite obvious what needed to be done to help Tenten as well as Naruto.

“You must talk to him, Tenten,” Neji spoke out evenly.

Broken out of her reverie of a certain blue-eyed shinobi, the female weapons expert gulped, for she knew exactly whom Neji was referring. Yet after a minute, she closed her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t think so, Neji.”

“You can not avoid him forever,” the elite Hyuuga continued calmly, remembering a moment yesterday when Naruto ran into their team and instead of talking to him, Tenten made an excuse to be somewhere else. The sad expression on his blond friend’s face was all the answer he needed to know how much the blond wanted to talk to her.

Once more Tenten shook her head as her eyes opened to gaze away from her teammate. “I think it is for the best we not see each other, since he is now betrothed to another.”

“Do you think I do not know what I’m talking about?” asked rhetorically the brown-haired ninja. “We went through the same experience last year, Tenten. You avoided me for many days, until I confronted you, and only after we talked did we settle our differences, enabling us to stay friends. You are only hurting yourself by evading Naruto, and in the process, you’re hurting him as well.”

Closing her chocolate eyes, Team Gai’s kunoichi felt a deep stab of remorse. She remembered yesterday seeing the pain in those deep blues, making her heart break even more.

“Besides,” Neji carried on, “there might be ways for Naruto to get out of this arranged marriage.”

Tenten chuckled almost bitterly. “This coming from a man who didn’t bother to fight much against his own clan for the arranged marriage they forced on him?!” she finished sarcastically, unaware her harsh words made a surprised Gai and Lee stopped their spar to focus on the conversation.

“You know very well I had no choice,” Tenten’s former boyfriend said calmly, not rising to the bait. “It was either to accept the arrangement or face a possible execution by certain Main Family members who can activate my Cage Bird seal. Hiashi-sama was against such a blunt use of force, but the Hyuuga elders were quite persistent that I married someone within the clan. My clan still has a long way to go until the division between the Main and Branch families can be healed, and since I had married back into the Main Family, it provides me the opportunity to help heal the rift once either Hinata-sama or Hanabi-sama is made Clan Head.

“Yet Naruto is dealing with national politics, not clan politics. I do not believe all hope is lost as Tsunade-sama seemed to believe. If he had not done so by now, Naruto can seek political backing from the many countries who sees him as a hero – Wind, Wave, Spring, Tea, Bird, and others. He is not alone, thus you should have faith in him, Tenten.”

Looking at his former girlfriend, Neji saw that expression of guilt on her face again. He decided to press a little more.

“Besides, it is clear from observing Naruto’s interaction with the Daimyo’s granddaughter that he does not enjoy being in her company. Knowing him, he will fight the best he can against the arranged marriage.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” softly admitted Tenten. “I… I just can’t... I just can’t go through with this again. To have hope, only to have it dashed.” With that said she placed down her water bottle, stood up, picked up her large weapons scroll, and left to start retrieving all her weapons that were lying around the field.

As the brown-haired kunoichi collected her weapons, Gai and Lee approached a frowning Neji, while all three kept an eye on their female teammate. “She is being stubborn,” confessed the Hyuuga jounin to his two other male companions once Tenten was out of hearing range. “Unlike me, I am doubtful Naruto will confront Tenten forcefully to get her to talk to him.”

“Agreed,” Gai said with a serious face. “We need to find a way to get those two together. Being apart like this is hurting both of them.”

“Just how do we get them together, Gai-sensei?” inquired Lee as he looked at his teacher. “Tenten will not talk to Naruto-kun, and Naruto-kun will not force Tenten.”

A small grin spread across the Taijutsu Master’s face, and Neji and Lee immediately knew Gai had an idea. “Do not worry, my youthful students. I have a plan that will get those two together again.”

After being told of the plan, the two young shinobi had to admit that it was likely the only way to get Tenten talking again with Naruto. They only hoped that it would work.

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Looking down at his half-empty ramen bowl, Naruto sighed and wondered for the millionth time whether the granddaughter of the Fire Daimyo was even human. The way she acted around others was so cold and aloof that she ended up turning off people with such a negative personality. How could he even live with such a person, nevertheless have her socialize with his friends?

As he gazed up, the blond man saw Ayame pick up the few empty bowls in front of him and the one besides him and took them to the nearest sink with some anger in her steps and face. He winced upon watching her dump the bowls that would have cracked them if she had deposited them with more force. Her father, two other Ichiraku employees, and few other customers all too warily watched the fuming young woman, and it was clear no one wanted to be on her receiving end.

“Ayame-neechan,” Naruto called out as she returned to begin wiping the counter where Kyoko had ate just a few minutes ago. “I’m sorry.”

Ayame blinked out of mild surprise upon hearing him, clearly having forgotten of her surroundings. Her lips formed into a small reassuring grin at her long-time young friend. “It is okay, Naruto-kun. You should not apologize, since it’s not your fault. I’m not mad at you.” Her expression instantly turned sour again. “It’s… It’s… her!”

Naruto nodded in understanding, for he did not blame Ayame for being pissed off at Kyoko.

After a very long day of touring Kyoko around the village, he thought that the day should end with him showing her his most favorite restaurant just as the sun was setting. He had ordered for both of them, and Ayame was kind and polite as their hostess. Yet no matter what he or Ayame did, the brunette woman was not even satisfied. She even went so far to insult Ayame and the entire Ichiraku establishment, calling it a dump. Only after the snobby aristocrat left, stating she would find her way back to the Hokage Tower, did Ichiraku Teuchi’s daughter finally enable to blow some steam, having had felt like blowing her top at the other woman but kept herself in check for Naruto’s sake.

As she cleaned the countertop, Ayame continued her rant. “I really can not believe you’re going to marry that woman, Naruto. What is the Hokage thinking of allowing this to happen? Surely, she could find a way to fight back.” She sighed and gave a small grin. “I like Tenten far better.”

Hearing what she said brought a small warm grin to Naruto’s being. “Yeah, I feel the same way.” With that stated, the whisker-faced man felt good enough to return to his unfinished meal, his mind on the good times he had with a beautiful, weapons-loving kunoichi he still cared deeply.

“Can I sit here?” a male voiced sounded to Naruto’s right, causing him to look up into the friendly face of his Academy teacher.

“Iruka-sensei!” beamed Naruto as the scar-faced shinobi sat down and placed an order with Ayame, who smiled warmly at the presence of her boyfriend.

With the order of food done, the pony-tailed man turned back to his most favorite student. “I arrived at the other side of the stand and noticed you and your new fiancée. As you know, you had already introduced me to her yesterday, and after observing her interactions with Ayame moments ago, I have to once more say to you Naruto to get out of this arranged marriage as soon as you can.”

“I’m doing the best I can,” pouted Konoha’s greatest hero. “I had already sent word two days ago to all my friends outside the village in hopes they might help me out. So far, I have not heard from any of them.”

Iruka frowned upon hearing that. Naruto has made many friends over the years with huge political clout, like Gaara, Princess Yuki of Spring Country, and a few others. Surely, with some pressure from these friends, the Fire Daimyo might reconsider the silliness of the whole arranged marriage. Yet to not hear from the any of them in two days, especially with the swiftness of carrier hawk communications, was mind-boggling.

“Other than that,” Naruto continued, “I have been looking in the library for any other means that I can to cancel the arranged marriage.”

The Academy Instructor nodded in understanding, and giving an encouraging grin at his young friend, Iruka picked up a pair of chop-sticks after his girlfriend brought him his ramen. “Just keep looking, Naruto. I’m sure you’ll find the answer. Once you do, you and Tenten can get back together.”

Naruto smiled widely at one of his most valued people in the whole world. Next to the Ichiraku’s and the Third, Iruka had been there for him and one of the very first to truly acknowledged him as a person and not the Kyuubi reincarnated. “Thanks, Iruka-sensei. I kept my word, thus I will find a way.”

With that said, the blond returned to his meal, while his ex-teacher started his. They spent many minutes in each other’s company, and for Naruto, the day did not totally end on a bad note, as he had feared. Least Iruka made a far better dinner companion than Kyoko did. Who would even think she was a nice girl anyway?

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Walking up a slightly busy street toward the Hokage Tower, the Daimyo’s granddaughter transmitted an air of confidence and nobility. Many of the villagers respectfully stood out of the way for her, and some even bowed.

Suddenly, a small ball bounced down the street, and since it was directly in Kyoko’s path, she had no choice but to catch it. Her dark blue eyes observed two boys running toward her, and after seeing she held the ball, they stopped in front of her.

Kyoko saw they were looking at the ball, so it was easy to tell the boys were playing. Odd that children would be playing after dark, but given the streets were filled with people, the children have plenty of protection around them.

The two boys and everyone around them were treated to the sight of Kyoko dropping the rigid expression to one of warmth and kindness. “Is this your ball?” she asked with a grin.

“Yes,” one of the boys answered, and in response, the twenty-year-old woman handed the ball to him before affectionately tousled his hair. After that, she commenced her journey toward the Hokage Tower, making her face impassive again after she was out of sight of the boys.

For those who had witnessed this, they knew the young aristocrat’s smile was not a fake, for no one could falsify such warmth in the eyes and face like that. Many now started to wonder…

How could a woman be so cold and display such kindness?

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At the Will of Fire Tavern, it was business as usual for the employees and their patrons. Drinks and food were consumed, while many conversations throughout the place made it seem like a semi-noisy place. Top it with the smell of smoke, and one would get the ideal look and feel of the typical bar anyone envision in his or her mind’s eye.

In one corner of the bar/restaurant, two jounins were enjoying themselves in each other’s company as they sat at a small round table. It was nothing usual to the average person, who did not know the two, but for everyone in the Konoha ninja forces, it still was quite a sight to see Hatake Kakashi socializing with Mitarashi Anko. Ever since the pair was spotted together at the Konoha Festival last month, they were occasionally seen together, and it had not taken long for everyone to know the pair was dating. Some people still were wondering if the two were just pretending to be a couple as a big practical joke.

As usual, Anko was drinking and talking, while Kakashi was mostly just talking. Even in a crowded bar, he would not ever lower his mask to show his face. Not that it mattered to the purple-haired kunoichi anyway, since she had seen his face during their private moments in her apartment during the past month. Both obviously agreed that his small, one-room apartment just did not have the space for their sexual activities.

“I still say we should trick the snotty girl in fighting Bun Girl. Let her get a taste to what a kunoichi can do,” suggested Anko before downing a shot of sake.

Kakashi shook his head as he chuckled in a slightly nervous manner, “As much as I’m sure Tenten will love to cut up the Daimyo’s granddaughter for taking away Naruto, I do not think it will do her career any good to be known for nearly killing a member of the lord’s family.”

Anko snorted at the same time rolled her eyes. “So what do you suggest can be done to get Bun Girl and Foxy back together short of assassinating Miss Royal Stuck-up?”

“Well, I have an idea, but I have to run it through Gai first,” grinned the Copy Ninja.

This made the Snake Mistress to raise an eyebrow in curiosity. “Gai? What does he—”

“Kakashi!” a voice interrupted her, instantly making the couple trained their eyes at the source, which happened to be the very man they were talking about a moment ago. They watched as Konoha’s Green Beast strolled toward their table with a big grin. “I’ve been searching for you all over Konoha, my youthful rival! You and I must talk!”

“Talk about what, Gai?” asked the former ANBU captain as his girlfriend took another shot of sake while eying newcomer to their table.

Sitting down on a chair between the pair, Gai quickly said what was on his mind. “We must find a way to get our youthful students to talk to each other again.”

“Really?” Kakashi responded, and once Gai nodded, the silver-haired man’s right eye creased into an eye grin. “Well, it’s perfect timing you came Gai, for we,” he gestured to himself and Anko, “were discussing the same thing.”

“I have an idea, my longtime rival, and I need your help to do it.” With that said, the Taijutsu Master told the Copy Nin and Snake Mistress of his plan to get Tenten talking to Naruto again.

A crescent eye grin graced Kakashi’s face upon the completion of hearing Gai’s plan a few minutes later. “I thought exactly the same thing, Gai. I’ll make certain Naruto will be there tomorrow.”

“Can I come?” Anko perked up with a mischievous grin. “I have an idea that might help things along.”

Kakashi thought about it for a moment before giving a nod of approval. “Okay, just do not go overboard, Anko. We’re trying to reunite them, not drive them further apart.”

The female tokubetsu jounin chuckled as she dismissed him with a wave. “Relax. Knowing Bun Girl, believe me, she’ll react as expected.”

“I agree with Kakashi,” Gai added in. “Knowing you, Anko-san, you will likely go too far.”

Anko snorted. “Says you, Turtle Lover.”

Taking another gulp of sake, the twenty something kunoichi had never and possibly would never understand the appeal of turtles that Gai could summon. They were too slow for her tastes. Now snakes on the other hand were neat animals to her. They were sleek and slippery devils, where they could easily crawl up a man’s pants leg and bite the loser right there where it would hurt the most.

Ignoring the faraway, wicked expression on his female comrade’s face, Gai raised a fist as his eyes burned with blazing fire. “Yes, my comrades! We will get those two back together, and they will experience the passion of youthful love once more!” A sunset suddenly appeared behind Gai with the roar of crashing waves.

Anko sweatdropped, for no matter how many times she had seen it, it baffled her to no end how in the world Gai and his favorite student Lee managed to created these background illusions, which were not genjutsu anyway.

Kakashi, however, simply blinked innocently at the green-spandex jounin. “Did you say something, Gai?”

The result was instantaneous. Gai grabbed his hair and hollered loudly for everyone in the tavern to hear. “AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! AGAIN WITH THAT HIP ATTITUDE, KAKASHI!” His hands came down into fists of determination. “I WILL SOMEDAY DEFEAT YOU WITH MY POWER OF YOUUUUUUUTH!”

Snickering before taking another sip of sake, the purple-haired woman wondered whether Gai would ever learn the truth someday. Poor Gai. With the exception of him and his Mini-me, everyone in Konoha knew Kakashi said that line just to get under his friend/rival’s skin every time. Even after all these years, the reaction was still very entertaining to watch.

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The sky was clear and sunny, and the birds chirping and flying around. No one in his or her right mind would think the day would be bad with good weather like this. This was exactly what was on Naruto’s mind as he walked towards the Memorial Stone training ground with Kyoko by his side.

His team was scheduled for training today, and given the importance that a team should always be kept sharp in skills and teamwork, the blond did not mind such training at all.

Yet despite the fact that the blond highly valued the training he had with his team, the young man did not mind working out with any of his friends. This train of thought made him realize how much he missed dueling with Tenten. The kunoichi had taught him so much about using his twin kodachi through a kenjutsu form, and in return, he had educated her through her nature-manipulation training. It was through teaching each other that their relationship evolved into something more, and in all honesty, Naruto just couldn’t think of a better training partner to be with other than her.

With such love-struck thoughts, one could say that Naruto would be quite surprised if he did see the woman of his thoughts any time soon. Yet that was precisely the emotion he displayed as he strolled into the training field and spotted not just his team, but also Team Gai as well. His blue eyes locked onto the brown orbs staring back at him as the owner stood in front of the three training posts with a tiny nervous grin for him.

Naruto very much wanted to go over to hug her, kiss her, and Shunshin them somewhere else so they could talk. The feeling was so strong in his heart that he almost did that. However, he knew it would be rude for him to do such a thing, especially since they were there to train, not to mend broken hearts as much as he sought so powerfully to do so with her.

“Hello there, Naruto,” greeted a grinning Kakashi, who suddenly appeared in front of Naruto and Kyoko, startling them. “Ready to train?”

“Yeah,” the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki answered, and after glancing at the noble woman and seeing she calmed herself after being scared like that, he gestured to the members of Team Gai. “Is Team Gai here to train too?”

The Copy Nin nodded once. “Gai asked yesterday whether his team can join ours for a joint training session, and I thought it was a good idea. It has been a long time since we last did any work outs with another team.”

After seeing his ex-student nod in understanding, Kakashi turned his attention to the blond’s so-called ‘fiancée’. “Are you here to observe Naruto’s training, Kyoko-sama?” He asked, guessing precisely the reason why she was here.

“Yes,” the Daimyo’s granddaughter replied, confirming the elite jounin’s deduction. “When Naruto told me yesterday that he would be training with his team today, I wanted to come along. I have observed the Twelve Guardians and the capital’s armed forces train many times thoughout my life that I’m curious to actually see how the Konoha ninja forces train.”

Kakashi thought that was reasonable. “Very well. All I ask is for you to please stay at a safe distance, so you will not get hurt. As you should know from observing the Twelve Guardians, these training sessions can be rough and sometimes dangerous, especially for people who are not ninjas.” The silver-haired man was satisfied to see her bow her head in acknowledgement of his suggestion for the sake of her protection.

Suddenly without warning, Naruto felt someone glomp him from behind, and upon immediately smelling snakes, he knew who it was. “Foxy-chan!” the female voice happily greeted.

“Nice to see you too, you crazy Snake Lady,” the blond jounin frowned as he turned his head to see Anko smiling devilishly up at him. Given his height, he was now taller than all the kunoichi he knew in and out of Konoha. “Do you mind getting off me now?”

“Yes, I do,” she teased, making him groan, which in turn made her snickered. “I’m here to observe you guys fight.”

“Well, that’s good,” Naruto mock grinned at her. “You can’t observe us fighting with you clinging to my back, right? Now, let go.”

Anko pouted. “Awww. Does Foxy-chan not like being hug?” She snuggled her cheek against his back, making him blush.

“Hello!” Konoha’s jinchuuriki nearly shouted in embarrassment. “Your boyfriend is front of me!” He gestured to his former sensei.

Kakashi, however, was not perturbed by the scene. “Oh, I don’t mind,” he eye grinned with a slight hand wave in dismissal, making Naruto drop his jaw in surprise. “It’s just a hug. Unless you don’t mind getting involved in a three-way with us.”

“Say what?!” Naruto shouted totally out of disbelief to what he was hearing. Yet his expression dropped to a frown upon noticing Kakashi and Anko’s laughter, for he should have known they were just pulling his fox tail.

Laughter dying down, Anko observed Kyoko and saw that the noble woman had a ‘Who is this crazy woman?’ face. Yet the black-haired ‘fiancée’ of Naruto’s did not appear to be ticked off of seeing another woman ‘assaulting’ her supposed man.

However, when the purple-haired kunoichi set her sights on Tenten, it was easy to see that the Weapons Mistress did not like what she was seeing. With narrowed, ticking, brown eyes and a clenched fist, the younger kunoichi clearly was giving a picture that screamed ‘Keep your hands off my man!’ to Anko.

Overall, Anko was quite pleased. This little ‘test’ produced the results she predicted. Kyoko’s reaction showed she did not care for her future ‘husband’, while Tenten’s expression indicated she still cared for Naruto, break-up or no break-up.

“Anko,” her boyfriend’s amused voice brought her back to reality. “As much as I’m sure you want to keep using Naruto as a living plush toy, he does have to train, you know. So let him go now.”

Softly laughing, the snake-loving woman let her ‘prey’ go and stepped aside. “Sure thing,” she said before pushing the wary young shinobi forward. “Go get them, Foxy!”

Naruto shook his head at her before he and his still-amused former sensei gathered with the others, who all thought Anko was crazy with vary of degrees. Only Kakashi, Gai, and Yamato knew the true purpose of the tokubetsu jounin’s hug for the young shinobi.

With Kyoko observing from under a nearby tree, Teams Gai and Kakashi split into pairs and began sparring. Since every member of each team was now a jounin, they all didn’t hold back as they fought each other. Most of the times, the duels were one-on-one, but there were a few where several members collaborated against one or two, like where all the young jounins teamed against their former teachers. Kakashi and Gai eventually learned not to let their guards down for a second, now that their students were all highly skilled and deadly jounins. Taking on one at a time was tough enough, but all of them together would make it feel like taking on a very rough and difficult S-rank mission.

Yet during the hours these fights took place, Naruto and Tenten had not fought each other, nevertheless spoke to each other. There were a few occasions that the blond was about to talk to her, but she would leap away to focus on the fight at hand against the older jounins or pretended that she was thirsty and left to get a drink of water. It was clear to the others that the brunette was going out of her way to avoid her ex-beau and he was suffering because of her doggedness.

As Tenten and Sakura took a break to relax under a tree nearby Kyoko’s tree with Anko watching them, Neji and Lee were together dueling against Naruto as Sai and the three older jounins watched. The blond knew that short-range combat was suicidal going up against his two friends, who were experts in taijutsu, thus why he chose to use mostly long-range attacks while dodging any attempts by the other two to box him in and/or close the gap.

Not that he didn’t mind fighting Lee in taijutsu, it was just that Konoha’s Greatest Hero did not want to get his tenketsu points closed by the Hyuuga genius, remembering that painful Chuunin Exam years ago. Even after all these years, Naruto had yet to develop a defense against the Hyuuga’s Jyuuken, and even though his speed has increased, it was not enough to dodge Neji’s Hakke Rokujuyon Sho (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms) strike. The best defense against any Hyuuga with such techniques was to dodge and stay far away from him or her. Far away.

Yet as the three young jounins sparred, Lee and Neji took the opportunity to talk to Naruto, knowing that Tenten was out of hearing range.

“Yosh, my youthful friend,” Lee began as he was in the mist of hand-to-hand fighting with the blond. “You must talk to Tenten. If you do not mend your hearts, you will not able ignite again your flames.”

“You make it sound like I’m not even trying,” gritted Naruto as he did his best to not get hit by the taijutsu user. “She is the one not making it easy.” He leaped away, only to see Neji closing in on his flank.

“You are too soft with her, Naruto,” Neji admitted just he launched a taijutsu move on his friend, who dodged the strikes. “You let her make the calls whether she wants to talk to you or not. It is clear she is avoiding you, thus if you have any chance of talking to her, you must force the issue on her.”

Naruto jumped shortly away, his eyes on both opponents. “Are you crazy? I do not want to hurt her.”

“We’re not saying to physically force her, Naruto-kun,” Lee soothed while posing in a fighting form to attack. “You must take control and tell her outright that you must speak with her. You know very well how stubborn she is.” With that said, the bowl-haired man launched another assault on his friend.

Leaping away again, Naruto decided to launch an attack of his own. Pulling out his twin kodachi, he hurled several wind bursts at the pair, who jumped away to avoid the whirlwinds. “I don’t like it,” he grated.

Neji knew what he was referring. “I know, for I was in your position a year ago, my friend. Trust us, you must force her, or else you will not ever get a chance to talk to her to make her understand your feelings. I can see you still love her, thus you must do it for both your sakes.”

As he went on the offensive with dozens of Kage Bushins, Naruto hated to admit it, but he knew that his two male friends were right. He was going nowhere with Tenten constantly evading him. When the opportunity presented itself, he would take it.

Meanwhile, Sakura was having a similar conversation with the very woman the men were discussing, and the pinkette was going absolutely nowhere with her. “Argh! You’re being a stubborn mule, Tenten! Why won’t you talk to him? You can’t avoid him forever.”

“Pinky is right, Bun Girl,” Anko mentioned from her perch on a branch above the two younger kunoichi. “I can tell that Foxy still has a thing for you. I say you’re afraid of him for some reason or another.”

Tenten quietly gulped but kept her cool. She had her reasons for not speaking to Naruto, and she was not going to tell anyone. Yet she felt a need to correct the snake-summoning woman. “You’re wrong,” she said, her eyes fixated on the blue-eyed blond fighting her teammates. “I’m afraid for him.”

Tsunade’s apprentice was baffled to what her fellow kunoichi was talking about, but Anko immediately picked up the message, which made her roll her eyes. “Oh, that is quite noble of you,” she praised sarcastically. “You made the grand sacrifice for his sake. Like he really appreciates you breaking up your relationship with him so he can live unhappily ever after. Real noble of you.”

Wincing, Tenten knew how much those words made the knife cut deeper into her heart. Her guilt was mounting, but she was going to stay firm. “They just do not understand what is in jeopardy, if Naruto chooses to go against the Daimyo. They just do not see it. I can not take that chance, I just can not with him.”

A loud feminine snort was heard; causing the three kunoichi to turned their heads toward the raven-haired aristocrat nearby. “Like I really do not see what he sees in you,” Kyoko said airily. “From what I heard about you, you’re one of the strongest kunoichi in the village, yet all I see is a weakling. If you can not talk to your ex-boyfriend without fear, you are not worthy of being a kunoichi. I recommend you hand in your resignation and go wallow, little girl,” she finished with a tone that made it sound like her words were a matter of fact.

The eldest of the three kunoichi simply acted neutral, even though she thought Kyoko was acting like a dick. However, the two youngest did not hesitate to show their anger at the Daimyo’s grandchild, especially Tenten. “This coming from a politician? Don’t make me laugh. What do you know about strength?”

“Plenty,” Kyoko responded with confidence. “There are different kinds of strength, not just physical strength. It is clear to me that you are weak.” She shook her head with a mock pity look at the glaring bun-haired girl. “Pity. What a waste of all your years of training. I think your rank does not suit you.”

Tenten’s patience was wearing thin. “Again, what do you know?! All you are doing are making accusations without knowing who I am! Do you know Naruto?! What makes you think you’re better than me when it comes to him?!”

Anko and Sakura looked at Tenten in shock, yet the older woman soon gave a knowing smirk while the younger one still had her mouth opened. Both realized that the weapons expert might not even have been aware of what she had just revealed with those choices of words. Despite her previous sayings stating the contrary, Tenten still thought of Naruto as hers.

Kyoko was not deterred by the menacing looking kunoichi. “If he is going be Hokage one day, it pays that he has someone who knows the political world. It is understandable that the Hokage have to be one of the strongest in the village, but unless he or she knows how to play the game of politics, he or she will not last long as Hokage. I will make a better partner to be by his side than a kunoichi who only plays with small knifes.” Just as she finished, her lips curled into a smirk.

There was no denying that Kyoko spoke the truth. She would know the political landscape better than her. Heck, the brunette kunoichi knew that Sakura would know more than her, given the pinkette’s apprenticeship under Tsunade, who enabled her student to view the inner workings of the Konoha government, and further more, Hinata would definitely be an expert due to her upbringing as the heir of the Hyuuga Clan.

Yet despite this, Tenten was not going to yield to the other woman. Her pride would not allow such insults to go uncheck. “I admit that you are correct that you do know better than me regarding how politics work, but that does not mean I can not learn the game.”

Getting up, the lithe female ninja strolled over to the other tree, until she was standing before Kyoko, staring down at her. “What about you? You maybe are skillful when it comes to the workings of politics, but can you fight? I know Naruto, and he needs a strong woman by his side, not someone who needs protection most of the time from assassins and other threats ninjas face.”

Unknown to the four women, the guys all saw Tenten’s movement, thus the spar immediately stopped as they wondered what was going on.

Standing up, Kyoko locked her dark blues with chocolate browns. “I’m not totally defenseless as you think. Given my skills, I think I might beat you.”

The effect was instantaneous as Tenten suddenly laughed, along with snickering from Sakura and Anko. As the men began walking toward the ladies now definitely curious due to the laughing, the Weapons Mistress’s amusement died down a bit to shake her head. “You got to be kidding me! You… defeat me? You’re not even a kunoichi, right?” After seeing Kyoko nodded, she continued. “So how can you say such a thing that you can defeat me?”

“Afraid I might be right?” Kyoko challenged with a raise eyebrow.

“Ha!” Tenten responded just as the men arrived. “You’re on!”

“What’s going on here?” Naruto asked for all the guys.

Sakura began explaining as she and Anko, who jumped from her tree perch, joined the group. “Kyoko challenged Tenten to a duel.”

The eyes of every shinobi locked onto Tenten and Kyoko. “You’re not even a kunoichi, Kyoko,” Naruto pointed out. “You’re not going to win.”

Keeping her eyes glued to those of her challenger, Tenten waved the blond’s concerns away. “I’ll go easy on her,” she smirked. “So… Any weapon you want to use?”

Kyoko nodded. “Give me a standard katana.”

After giving a small shrug, Tenten went to retrieve her scroll, where she summoned a katana. She gave the sword to Kyoko, and only then did both women strolled out into the clearing to take ready stances as everyone else watched with curiosity and a bit of concern.

Yet for the four older jounins and Neji, they did not understand what Kyoko was doing. It made no sense for the aristocrat to challenge Tenten, thus it was clear to them that the Daimyo’s granddaughter was up to something. Exactly what she was planning was the mystery.

Starting the duel after drawing out her mother’s katana, Tenten took it easy on her opponent by attacking with simple swings, yet as Kyoko easily blocked and dodged the attacks, the weapons-loving girl wrenched up the notches. However, the other woman once more was able to defend herself despite the increase in speed.

“So you weren’t all talk. You do have some skills,” admitted Tenten as she easily parried some blows from the black-haired woman.

Smirking, Kyoko blocked a side attack before counterattacking, which was blocked by the other. “I started kenjutsu training a few years ago under one of the Twelve Guardians. It was hard work, but it was worth it.”

From the sides, everyone was quite impressed with the young politician’s sword skills.

“From her movements, I can see that Kyoko-sama does know a single kenjutsu form,” Kakashi pointed out. “However, that will not be enough to defeat Tenten, if she goes full out.” He knew he was speaking to the majority anyway, since everyone else could see what he had spoken about. It was just they all wondered just how far was too far for such a mix-match duel, especially when one could easily skew the other?

After a few more minutes, Tenten decided that she had entertained the other woman long enough, for it was time to end this fight. So by increasing her speed once again and adding several more kenjutsu forms in her attacks, the Weapons Mistress gotten Kyoko to be on the defense, until with one fluid motion, easily disarmed the big-mouth aristocrat with a triumphant grin.

However, instead of a defeated expression, Tenten saw a smirking one on her challenger’s face. “So you are a very skilled kunoichi,” Kyoko admitted, causing the bun-haired female ninja to frown at the lack of crushed feelings from the smirking noble girl. “I knew you would have defeated me.” She began walking away toward the training ground’s exit and the village beyond.

“Wait a minute!” shouted a pissed off brunette kunoichi, her eyes drilling holes into the retreating politician’s back. “You stated you could have defeated me! Why say such a thing when you knew I could have easily defeated you?!”

Feigning innocence, Kyoko paused and turned a bit, so everyone could see her face. “I did?” she asked with a finger tapping her chin. After a minute, she shrugged and gave a fake apologetic smile. “I guess I must have forgotten. My apologies.” Her devilish lopsided grin returned upon seeing the eye tick on Tenten’s face. “Try not to break you back, little girl, for you are not worthy of Naruto at all.” With that said, she resumed her trek back to the village.

Tenten was seeing red. This… This…Girl had no right to tell her such a thing after she arrogantly lied to her regarding defeating her! Why go through all the superciliously calling and boasting and then in the end just walk away without so much of truly acknowledging her skills? This woman did not deserve Naruto at all, not one bit!

With murder in her brown eyes, Tenten began running toward the retreating Kyoko with her katana raised to strike the girl, but she soon felt a pair of arms wrapped around her waist, holding her back. “No, Ten-chan!” she heard Naruto’s voice in her right ear. “Striking her down will get you in trouble! Calm down!”

“Naruto is right, my youthful student,” Gai said to her right, finally making her notice everyone was on either side of her with Naruto behind her. “Do not let her unyouthful words get to you, no matter how much you think she deserves being punished.”

Sakura snorted at Gai’s words before aiming narrowed eyes at Kyoko’s back. “And I thought I’ve seen it all when it comes to snotty personalities. Kyoko takes the cake.”

Anko nodded in agreement. “I can just release a few snakes in her guest room.” She chuckled almost manically. “That’ll teach her a few lessons.”

“No,” Naruto ordered, surprising everyone. “Do not bother her, for I’ll deal with her. You’ll not achieve anything with such a move, Anko.”

The snake-summoning kunoichi stared at the whisker-faced young man for a moment before giving a small shrug. “Fine. Whatever you want. Just do not let her get away with this, Foxy.” She was satisfied, when Naruto gave her a nod of understanding.

As they all watched Kyoko’s form grew smaller the further she was away from them, Lee spoke out what was on her mind. “I hope you will find a way out of this marriage, Naruto-kun. She is quite unyouthful as Gai-sensei said.”

Kakashi, his right eye narrowed, agreed with Lee wholeheartedly, but his thoughts were also on a different path regarding Kyoko. “What are you up to? It is quite clear you wanted Tenten to be angry at you. For what purpose do you want Tenten to be angry with you when you are already Naruto’s fiancée?”

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Unknown to the Copy Nin, Kyoko’s thoughts were giving an answer he would have found baffling if he had known.

“With a little more push, I will get Naruto to be angry with me. Then I’ll get what I want from him. Simple as that.”

Kyoko grinned a bit as she mentally patted herself on the back for her plan.

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Once Kyoko was out of sight, the group felt a bit relieved she was gone, except for Tenten, who was still furious. Yet after a minute or two, she realized that Naruto had not let go of her. Her cheeks became a bit rosy upon registering his closeness. Not that she minded, just that she did not think this was appropriate after she broke up with him.

After taking a deep breath, she gently pulled out of his embrace to face him. “Thank you, Naruto,” she smiled thankfully up slightly at those mesmerizing, warm blues.

“You’re welcome, Ten-chan,” Naruto grinned back at her. Seeing that she was about to walk away, he quickly reached out to stop her with a hand on her arm. “How about you spar with me?”

Tenten was not prepared for such a request. “Say what?”

Konoha’s Jinchuuriki was not deterred. “A spar. You and me. It has been a long time, since we sparred against each other using only kenjutsu.” His lips formed an encouraging smile. “Come on, Ten-chan. I promise you I’ll be a better partner than Kyoko was.”

Unable to help it, the brunette kunoichi chuckled at his humor. She knew already how much a great training partner he was, thus he did not have to convince her of that.

“An excellent idea, Naruto!” Gai sprouted out with enthusiasm. “You can both go full out without needing to worry, since you both know your limits.”

After taking a deep breath with a small grin, Tenten shrugged. “Okay.” She was awarded with a thankful smile from the blond, before they took many steps away from the other.

With her katana in hands and his twin kodachi in his, the two readied themselves in their stances, their determined faces eying each other. Following the gentle breeze that came through, swaying a bit of his hair and the few strands that came loose from her buns, the duo launched at the same time at each other, and soon after, the clash of metal against metal was heard all over the training field.

As she continued her fight against Naruto, Tenten felt that familiar thrill race throughout her being. It was that giddy feeling she got every time she had sparred with Naruto in the many months since he had started his kenjutsu training under her tutelage. As much as she did not mind her training fights with her teammates, they just did not use weapons as she did, thus they would not ever truly understand the sensation of feeling your sword against your opponent’s blade and the excitement of hand-to-hand combat that only weapon users knew. However, Naruto knew, since she could see the same exhilaration in his eyes that matched her own, thus she could never get this feeling from her team compared to him. Never.

An ecstatic and determined grin grew across her face, and it was soon matched by the man she was sparring with. Feeling her heart soar with the joy of sword combat, Tenten jumped back a bit to launch into the air, and she was not disappointed to see Naruto following her skyward. Their blades clashed high above the ground as continued to do so as they fell back to Earth, and once their feet touched down on land again, the dueling pair did not waver in the thrill of the fight.

Off the sides, the others were all admiring and appreciating the whole duel. It was like watching a beautiful dance as neither partner let up the pace and held back. They have all seen Naruto and Tenten fight together like this before, thus each knew the pair’s hearts and souls were intertwined, for such a wonderful dance of blades could only be done when the partners were truly in synch.

“It still amazes me every time I see it,” murmured Sakura, her emerald eyes still embedded on her two friends dueling together.

“Yeah,” Anko smirked approvingly of the couple. “If this does not show Bun Girl she made a mistake in breaking up with Foxy, I don’t know what will.”

Kakashi nodded in agreement with his girlfriend. The looks on Tenten and Naruto’s faces showed not only a couple that was excited by the thrill of the fight, but also by the knowledge of dueling with someone you trust and love highly. It was a weird yet enlivening kind of flirting that only two warriors with similar hearts could experience.

Coming out of dodging a sideswipe from his left kodachi, Tenten brought her sword down on a vertical attack, which was blocked by his right kodachi. Naruto quickly brought his left kodachi to horizontally force the katana down to his right. The sudden movement made her move forward until they were touching chest-to-chest with their arms twisted to one side. It was right there and then they paused and took in the intense feelings radiating through their eyes at each other.

“Naruto-kun,” whispered the bun-haired kunoichi, as her sight was hooked by those electric blues that showed so much emotion that she felt overwhelmed.

“Ten-chan,” spoke the spiky-haired shinobi in the same soft tone. Those chocolate browns were addicted to him, showing him so much love and promise that he knew he would not ever let her go.

After another minute of each unable to tear their eyes off each other, Naruto softly broke the silence. “I knew you still feel for me. I knew it.”

Realizing what he meant, Tenten immediately was broken out of the love-inducing spell and swallowed. She quickly pulled away from him and gave a weak grin. “That was a good duel, Naruto. I enjoyed it, but I have to get back home, for I have to help Mom with the store.”

Yet before she could even walk away, Naruto dropped his right katana and swiftly latched his hand over her left arm, halting her movement. Brown eyes nervously looked up at calm blues. “We need to talk, Ten-chan. No running away, no avoiding. We can not continue to act around each other like we had in the past few days.”

The tall blond man saw she very much wanted to flee, but his hand was firm on her arm and would not let go. Neji was right. He needed to force Tenten to talk to him, and now that this opportunity was here, he would not let it slip through his fingers.

Naruto quickly sheathed his left kadochi before using his left hand to keep the woman he loved from leaving, and then, he picked up his other kodachi to place it back in its scabbard. His eyes then held those of his comrades, especially Gai and Kakashi. “Tenten and I will be leaving now. We need to talk. Can you—”

“We will return Tenten’s scroll to her home, Naruto,” Gai responded with a raised hand to stall the young man from speaking further. “You two go.”

After giving a small, thankful grin and nod at the taijutsu master, Konoha’s Greatest Hero brought the Weapons Mistress a bit more closer to him before he cast a Shunshin to teleport them away from the training field.

Letting out a breath of air, Kakashi placed his hands in his pockets. “Well, mission accomplished.”

Gai nodded in agreement. “Now the rest is up to them.”

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A small cloud of smoke appeared on top of the Hokage Monument, and when the smoke cleared, Naruto and Tenten stood there for a moment before he let her go. She gave a tiny grin at the spectacular sight of the village before her. She had guessed correctly that he would take them here, given it was one of the best private spots in all of Konoha despite the fact they could be seen by many if people took a hard look to spot them.

Letting out a small chuckle, which sounded forced, Tenten sheathed her katana and took a few steps to gaze at the view with her arms crossed. “I knew the whole joint-team training was a plan to get you and I together the moment I saw your team enter the field,” she said, feeling his eyes on her back. “I felt Gai-sensei had a hand in this plan.”

Naruto gave a sincere chuckle. “Kakashi-sensei must have also been in on it. So if you have to blame anyone other than Gai-sensei, it would be Kakashi-sensei.” This time he heard a real giggle from her.

Sighing, he dropped the grin. “Ten-chan…” He saw her back stiffened up a bit. “Can you honestly tell me you do not love me, especially after what we felt during our spar just a few minutes ago? Please do not lie to me.”

Turning around just enough to see his solemn expression, Tenten knew she have to be honest, for it would be a grave insult to him to do otherwise. “I still care for you, Naruto. You’re right that we still have that special connection as we felt during the spar.”

After closing his eyes momentarily to prepare himself, the young jounin braced for what was to come. “Then how can you possibly even think that it is over between us, Ten-chan, and I do not want to hear the excuse that the Fire Daimyo’s order must be obeyed.”

“She’s the Fire Daimyo, Naruto,” Tenten looked at him incredulously. “How can you say no to the most powerful person in all of Fire Country?”

“Because I know it is right,” countered the blond, his eyes hard as steel. “After I cried when you left my apartment, I thought it out, and in the end, no matter what you or Baa-chan says I know in my gut that there has to be way to fight back. There has to be laws or rules that I can use to fight against the arranged marriage.”

Tenten shook her head. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” Naruto immediately answered before taking a few steps to stand in front of her with a determined, warm grin. “Ten-chan… I’m not going to give up the fight, and I will continue to find a way to cancel the arrange marriage. I promise you that on my word, my nindo. I had already sent word to all of my friends in high positions in other countries and began looking into the laws to see what I can find.”

Naruto paused to place reassuring hands on his love’s shoulders. “Ten-chan… To be honest, I think you and Baa-chan overreacted to the news. It’s not the end of our relationship. You’ll see. I’m going to find a way out of this arranged marriage, and we’ll return to the way things were before.”

Shaking her head again, the brunette grinned sadly. “Knowing you, you definitely will try everything. It’s just that I cannot take that risk.”

“Why?” the blond was puzzled. “If you’re referring to the fact that I would lose any chance of becoming Hokage, I’ll take that chance. I rather not be Hokage than to lose you.”

Tenten gasped. “Are really serious about this?” Seeing his determined and stern face, she knew the answer right away. “You are serious,” she sighed.

“Ten-chan,” Naruto grinned warmly at her. “There are some things worth fighting for, and as much as I would love to see my dream of being Hokage come true, I’m not going to sacrifice my heart for it.”

His hands moved from her shoulders to her waist, prompting her to place her hands on his chest, and only then did the sapphire-eyed man resume. “Ever since you started training me, my respect for you as a person and fighter have grown so much that I realized I’m glad to have you as a friend.” Tenten began to smile at the memories his words were provoking. “Then when we started dating, my feelings soon became more than friendship, when I came to trust you with my heart. I cannot think of any better person to be by my side, whether on a date or on a mission.

“As you know, I value all my friends, and I will not ever abandon them, not even for a chance of becoming Hokage. I rather die than to ever abandon them.” His words made her heart clench as she felt her eyes began to moisten. “The same is for you. We’ve been through so much since February, that I know I will not ever abandon you. Friendship and love to me is worth more than being Hokage.”

“Damn you, Uzumaki Naruto!” the teary-eyed, grinning kunoichi yelled in her head. “You’re making it harder for me! You’re making me fall harder in love with you with that big heart of yours!”

“Naruto,” she began after a minute or two of silence between them. “I understand what you are saying, but in the end, I still feel it is too big a risk. I’ve been given such a promise before, and I was hurt deeply when it was not even fulfilled.”

Naruto was confused at first to what she was talking about, but then he remembered that he was not Tenten’s first romantic relationship. With a sigh and closed eyes, he nodded in understanding. “Neji.”

“Yes,” confirmed Tenten, making him reopen his eyes to see her on the verge of releasing tears. “Neji made the same promise to me, Naruto. When he told me of his clan’s plans to make him married his distance cousin, he vowed to me that he will fight. Yet, in the end, he gave in when the Hyuuga elders threatened to take his life through the Caged Bird Seal, and not just they threatened his life, but mine as well. So he caved in, thinking it would be best due that no one can interfere with clan politics unless it affects the village as a whole. Besides, he also knew he would marry into the Main Family, allowing him to be in position to help either Hinata or Hanabi to reshape the clan when either of them became Clan Head in the future.”

Closing his eyes again, Naruto felt a surge of anger on the behalf of his Hyuuga friend. How low could those old fools go?! How dare they threaten his life just because he was in love with Tenten?! How dare they?!

Feeling a warm hand palming his left cheek, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki opened his eyes to see Tenten smiling thankfully at him. “Thank you,” she said. Seeing he was mystified by her gratitude, she explained. “I saw you become angry for what had happened to Neji, and I know he will deeply appreciate your sympathies for us as much as I am now. It’s just that even if you knew the full story a year ago, you and everyone else could have done nothing to help.”

“What do you mean?” asked a bewildered Naruto. He definitely would have knocked some sense into the Hyuuga elders for even thinking of assassinating his friends.

“It was a clan matter, Naruto,” answered Tenten. “The elders did not outright state they would have killed Neji or me, they hinted it in words. If people outside the clan had gotten involved, it would have gotten other clans involved as well, thus likely causing a rift in the village, possibility a civil war. Neji and I certainly did not like how the elders sometimes can overrule Hiashi-sama, but they can do things behind his back without his approval.”

Letting out a breath, the brown-haired woman shook her head. “What has been done has been done. Neji has married his distance cousin, and I had moved on. It is just the whole point of this story was that I had went through this before.”

“Ten-chan,” the golden-haired man softly spoke. “This is different. We’re not dealing with clan politics. There has to be an answer to this problem. I just know it.”

“How can you tell?” pleaded Tenten. “I do not feel reassured by this, especially given how we’re dealing with the Fire Daimyo.”

“Because I know there is an answer somewhere,” boasted Naruto with a confident grin. “I can feel it. I’m not going to give up.”

Unable to help it, Tenten laughed before looking up at him with a small grin, for she should have known he would think this way, given how he had always had such strong self-beliefs since he was a genin. “I wish I could have your confidence.” Her grin dropped, showing a woman who looked vulnerable, and it made the man before her concerned. “It’s just that I’m scared, Naruto. As I said, I went through this before, and I’m afraid history is going to repeat itself.”

Looking down to avoid his eyes, feeling unable to look at him, Tenten gripped his jounin vest. “I panicked,” she admitted. “Given the Fire Daimyo have more power than the Hyuuga Clan, I thought there would be no way for us to fight back, so I gave in and ended our relationship.” A single tear rolled down her cheek, and her eyes closed from the internal pain she was feeling. “You must think I’m weak for panicking like that,” she whispered, “that a kunoichi of my standing shouldn’t have reacted that way.” A few more tears trailed down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

A male finger under her chin guided her head to look up, and once she did, the weapons-loving woman was treated to a warm, reassuring expression looking at her. “You do not need to apologize, Ten-chan. You’re human like everyone else, thus you reacted badly to the situation. I should have known your break-up with Neji would have come back to haunt you.”

“Baka,” Tenten softly laughed through her tears. “How could you have known I would have reacted that badly? I was allowing my emotions to guide my decisions. If I had thought it through first, I would not have broken up with you.”

“Hey,” Naruto joked, “you’re talking to one of the most emotional shinobi in the village.” With this right hand, he reached back to rub the back of his head sheepishly. “Everyone kept saying that I always was too emotional when I fight.”

Laughing again, the nineteen year old female ninja buried her face in his chest. Once more, he had surprised her, for he was right. He was indeed one of the most emotional shinobi in all of Konoha, if not in all of the Elemental Countries. He had always mostly worn his emotions on his sleeve, including in the middle of combat.

Yet, as she looked back up at that grinning, warm face with piercing blue eyes, Tenten knew he had grown up a lot ever since she had first met him when they were children. Naruto still was emotional, but less than before. He was still loud, but only when appropriate these days. He still fought with intensity, but more coordinated and less recklessness than when he was a raw-green genin. He had changed a lot.

Now that she thought about it, it was ironic that their roles seemed to be reversed. Back then; he was the highly emotional, unstable person who jumped to conclusions at times, while she was the calm and rational one. Today, she became the unbalanced being, who panicked and jumped to quick deductions, where as Naruto thought things out.

“When have you become so matured?” Tenten murmured in wonder at the evolution this man had undergone over the course of his life.

Naruto smiled a bit sadly as he looked off the side over the entire village, his twin sapphires showing a far away glaze in them. “Maybe when I realized that Death could come knocking at the door of anyone I know at any time. I had thought that we, as shinobi, would be invincible to Death, but I learned early that was not the case. I had witnessed it for the first time during the Wave mission, and I felt it hit me when Hokage-jiji and Asuma-sensei died.” He paused as his eyes became even sadder. “Yet I truly didn’t understand how vulnerable we all are until Ero-sennin died.”

Tenten felt her heart crack at seeing him so sad. She had heard of Team 7’s first C-rank mission that had turned into an A-rank one, and she had been there for the Sandaime and Asuma-sensei’s funerals. Yet she had only heard of how hard Naruto had taken Jiraiya’s death, and it was only later that she learned that the Toad Sannin was Naruto’s godfather did she understand the pain the blond was going through. Naruto had not only just lost a teacher and friend, but also the only family he had ever had.

It was a loss that Tenten realized she had yet to ever experience. She didn’t remember her father, and she had no other family other than her mother. Naruto had spent his childhood with no family, only to discover a godfather waiting for him, thus it must have broken his heart to be told of Jiraiya’s death at the hands of Akatsuki Pein. The brunette kunoichi knew, without a doubt, that she would feel the same if Mom died.

Turning his sight back to the woman he was holding, Naruto saw the far-away somber expression. He did not mean for his reminiscence to affect her, so he wrapped his arms around her waist, gaining her attention to his small grin. “Ten-chan… What does your heart tell you? Do want our relationship to continue?”

Deep down, the Weapons Mistress knew the answer. “Yes, I do,” she whispered, making her grin a bit warmly at him. “Just… there still is the problem of the arranged marriage.”

“Leave that to me,” Naruto proclaimed with a positive grin. “I’ll find a way out of it. As I said, you have my word, and I have not ever gone back on my word.”

Not knowing what to say, Tenten simply nodded, and in response, her now-again boyfriend kissed her on the cheek. She was grateful that he didn’t kiss her on the lips. Her heart very much wanted everything to return to the way things were between them, but that arranged marriage hanging over his head still was casting a shadow over them. Until it was resolved, the brunette still would have lingering doubts whether the whisker-faced shinobi could find a way out of the situation without destroying his career in the process or worst.

“I’m going to the library,” Konoha’s Jinchuuriki explained, after he unwrap his arms from her form. “I’m going to continue searching through the scrolls to find a way out of the marriage, and I know you would want to have some time alone now.”

“Thank you,” Tenten thanked him with a slight warm grin. She did want to spend some time by herself for the time being, and it was good he was perspective enough to know this.

With one last warm grin at his now-again girlfriend, Naruto vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving the brown-haired female alone on top of the Hokage Mountain as she observed the vista of her home village.

After a few minutes of watching, she closed her brown eyes and sighed. Once more her heart deep down wanted very much to believe Naruto would succeed, but these lingering doubts were making her depressed. It was just too bad she couldn’t truly assassinate Kyoko. Tenten knew it was wrong, but there were many times her depression had turned into anger over the whole unfairness of the entire circumstances of the arranged marriage, and now that she remembered the snobby attitude Kyoko had given her today, the weapons-loving kunoichi’s imagination couldn’t help but currently conjure up scenarios of the stuck-up aristocrat meeting a death with so many weapons sticking out of her body.

Tenten smirked at the mental image. She knew better than to ever sink low to make that imaginative situation into reality, but it did not mean she could not find other ways to let go of some steam.

Opening her eyes, Team Gai’s female member saw the sun’s position and reasoned she had a couple more hours of sunlight left before sunset. Perfect.

She activated the Shunshin to travel back home, where she planned to take out her frustrations on the practice dummies in the backyard. Tenten knew she would feel much better upon flinging dozens of kunai and shuriken at the wooden human-formed targets while visualizing them with the face of Kyoko.

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TBC (End of Chapter 11)

A/Ns:

1) Well, this chapter certainly has been a long one to write up. I didn’t want to suddenly have Naruto and Tenten ‘make up’ without reason, not to mention I needed to develop Kyoko.

Yet as everyone can see, Naruto and Tenten are not out of the woods. The next chapter will end this mini-arc with the solution to how Naruto will get out of the arranged marriage, and believe me, so far no one reviewer has yet to come close to guessing what will happen. ;)

2) To be honest, I feel like a fool. After 11 chapters, I have yet to thank all the readers, who left reviews and placed “Unexpected Love” in your favorites and/or alert lists. Even after six months, it still warms me to know many people like this romantic story involving a pairing that will not ever happen in canon. I like the notion of Naruto with the feisty weapons-loving kunoichi, and it’s good to know others feel the same way as I do. :)

So I thank you all for your continual support of “Unexpected Love”! It’s appreciated! (big grin)

Note from weixuan18: Bloody hell, this took me one hour to go through and pick out the mistakes. If there’s any more, I apologize, but yeah, I just can’t bring myself to go through it again. Monstrous length. @.@

Apologies to JP for the lateness of this beta-ed version. I had tests and stuff, the usual, heh heh.