Ame no Ukihashi (天浮橋)

The Floating Bridge to Heaven

"The connections we make in the course of life—maybe that's what heaven is."

— Fred Rogers

Tenten slowly opened her eyes and blinked as the early morning rays of the sun shone through the window, dazzling her. She stretched and yawned and felt disorientated for a moment. She was aching all over but there was an incredible feeling of lightness about her, as though her body was floating on air. Then almost dreamlike, the events of the night fluttered through her mind.

She glanced across the bed and saw the indentation in the pillow and realized it hadn't been a dream at all.

After almost six months away on a mission in The Land of Iron, her husband was back and she had made love with him not once but twice, last night. The first time had been incredible, and she'd thought nothing in the world could be better—especially after having gone so long without his touch—but he had proved her mistaken.

She had fallen asleep, exhausted, and it might have been minutes or an hour later when she'd awoke to find the bedside light on—just as a naked Sasuke had strolled out of the bathroom. What had followed had been a revelation in eroticism. With a skill and an expertise she could only marvel at, he had kissed and caressed her, showed her how much he missed her and encouraged her to do the same to him. And she had, in the process, rediscovered that sensual side of her nature that her loneliness had suppressed.

Loneliness had been Tenten's only dependable friend while he was away. It was there morning, noon and night. Cigarettes ran out, sake ran dry, but always the empty yawning persisted. Nothing ever touched it, not even her children's presence. Uchito and Reika were constant reminders of their father's absence.

She hugged her pillow, inhaled his scent and smiled.

And remembered.

And mentally relived it all. Relived when he made long, slow love to her. He had driven her out of her mind as he'd taken her to the edge of paradise over and over again, until in the end she had been begging for a release that only he could give her.

She looked around the room. No sign of his clothes or chakra, he was gone. Tenten pulled the coverlet up over her naked body and groaned.

Maybe he had only briefly returned to deliver a report and had to be on his way before dawn broke. It would explain why in the space of his usual words of greeting he had reached for the belt of her wrap instead, drew her against him and kissed her senseless last night. He knew he wouldn't be staying.

Her brows drew together. The least the bastard could've done was wake her before he left so she wasn't left feeling like last night had been someone who was extremely skilled with Genjutsu's idea of a joke.

"Why the long face?" a deep, dark voice drawled, and she opened her eyes to see Sasuke walking towards her.

"I wasn't dreaming?" she blurted, pulling herself up into a sitting position and tucked the coverlet under her arms while her eyes drank in the sight of him.

Despite his sullen, antisocial manner, Sasuke was quite a dish in a basic kind of way: tall, well-built and undeniably handsome. But his profile was to die for: dark and brooding eyes beneath lowered black brows, a firm and arrogant jut of a nose and a chiselled mouth. A ruthtless ninja, she decided. Rough and ready. No conversationalist. And yet passion lurked in those dark eyes.

He was dressed in the same Anbu gear she remembered taking off him last night, albeit it was slightly more crumpled now. In his hand he held a mug of coffee.

"That would've had to be quite some dream don't you agree?" Sasuke prompted and, crossing to the side of the bed, deposited the mug of coffee on the bedside table. "This is for you. I thought you might need the caffeine after last night." He gave her a wicked smile that made her blush.

"What are you implying, Uchiha? Are you forgetting I was a part of Team Gai? Our stamina is unprecedented," she grouched, picked up the mug and took a long drink of coffee.

He let out a bark of laughter. "I'm not so sure yours is."

Her stomach turned over and she forgot to feel offended. He was absolutely beautiful when he laughed, his white teeth good enough for a toothpaste ad.

So she hadn't been imagining things?

He was finally home, she thought with a heavy sigh of relief. Oh, how she had missed him.

"I thought half a year on your own would've made you a better cook. This is like heated bathwater," she faked a grimace.

Sasuke sat down on the bed and, leaning forward, lightly brushed her lips with his. "Who says it isn't?"

His dark gaze met hers and she could not look away. The latent sensuality in his eyes was mesmerizing her. A heated blush coloured her cheeks, and other parts of her were equally warm. "If it's yours then you taste awful," she giggled.

"Had we the time, I'd refreshen your memory—" he chuckled and touched her cheek.

It was a fleeting caress, but then before he could stop himself, he touched his lips to the corner of her mouth again. His tongue barely glanced the soft curves. She was as soft and as sweet as he knew she would be.

Tenten's lips parted, unconsciously seeking more of the caress. Her tongue touched his, hesitant, unsure—like the first time he had kissed her.

He fought to keep things safe and contented himself with the soft tangle of their tongues, then drew back quickly.

"—unfortunately we don't," he straightened up when he heard footsteps and muffled voices outside the door. There was some scuffling and giggling, and then a very loud, rapid knocking.

Her head now clear of the sensual haze Sasuke's presence seemed to cause, Tenten asked, "What time is it? I need to make breakfast. Chito and Reika must be hungry."

"Already taken care of," he dismissed and crossed the room to open the door.

"You made them breakfast?" She gave a mocked gasp, quickly fighting her way back into her nightgown. "Well they're still alive so that's a good sign."

Sasuke's shoulders stiffened.

A huge bouquet of flowers advanced into the room—a vibrant myriad of colour with an aroma evocative of springtime.

"Walking flowers?" Tenten exclaimed, wide-eyed. "What kind of Ninjutsu is this?"

Gleeful childish laughter sounded from behind the bouquet. "No! No! It's me! It's me!" Uchito cried out, and lowered the flowers sufficiently to show his cute little face. "Mommy! Mommy—these war fur ew."

Reika followed closely behind. Her hands were casually stuck in the pockets of her shorts, Sasuke's signature scowl adorning her pale face. "Pipe down dweeb, you're going to deaf us all," she chided.

Uchito marched up to the bed and deposited a mass of flowers, swathed in cellophane and ribbons, on Tenten's lap. "Pretty furr-wers fur my pretty Mommy."

"Pretty flowers for your pretty Mommy, huh?" She laughed. "That sweet mouth of yours will get you in a lot of trouble with the ladies when you're older, Chito." Her eyes went from the flowers to her son's grinning face, and then to Sasuke's.

He looked so murderously angry that Tenten felt a frisson of fear. She didn't need to guess who the flowers had not come from.

Colour laid dark red along the ridge of his cheekbones and his eyes seemed to be tracking any betraying expression that may cross her face when he asked, "Who sent you those?"

Tenten felt an insane desire to laugh. Pure nerves she told herself, taking a deep breath of her own to steady her.

Reika was frowning at her too, Tenten realized.

Her eyes like the deep brown of winter trees at twilight. "It came with a card daddy," she informed Sasuke almost doggedly and pushed a frustrated hand through her hair.

Hair with such a tint that it played with light, like peering at the sun through a jar of pine honey.

"No one ass'ed ew!" Uchito made a face at his sister.

She snickered and corrected him wryly, "It's asked birdbrain, not ass'ed."

"Do nut tall me names!"

"I'll call you whatever I like, dobe."

Sasuke's eyes slipped to the card tucked into the binding ribbon. He picked it up and opened it before Tenten could register that he had even crossed the room to stand before her.

He stared, disbelievingly at the card. Then his gaze flew to her once more. "Who is Lover Boy K?"

Sasuke's voice was low-pitched, yet it seemed to do something horrid to Tenten's insides. "Lo-lover bo-boy wh-who?" She stammered.

"You heard me," he rasped, watching her expression morphed through confusion and bewilderment layered over horror and shock.

"Konohamaru, Kakashi, Kiba, Kotetsu..." Reika listed all the 'K' names she could think of aloud. She had her own 'K' word to add at the end of her list, "That sure is a lot of suspects to kill."

When Sasuke's eyes collided with hers there was blatant amusement in his. "Shoot first ask questions later, huh?"

Her smirk was the perfect replica of her father's, "It's the way of the Uchiha." Then she breathed out in irritation, "Besides, I don't like the idea of other men sending my mother flowers."

In that moment Sasuke felt a swell of pride. "You've been raised right," he praised and then slanted his son a look of disapproval. "I can't say the same for your brother."

"Ew hike the furr-wers, Mommy?" Uchito grinned at Tenten, oblivious to taut tension drumming in everyone else.

"They're beautiful," she kissed him on his nose. "Of course I like them. They must've came from Aunt Ino's shop."

"Ooh ex-pen-pig," he gushed with all the awe and innocence a young child could possess.

Expensive.

"Ex-pen-pig is right," Sasuke muttered beneath his breath, emphasis on the last syllable.

"Pig," Reika chortled. "A more honest thing has never left his mouth," she agreed.

"Hut up!" he waved them off.

"It's shut up and maybe you should take your own advice," she told him saucily.

"That's enough you two," Tenten said sternly but her emotions were a confused tangle, knotting themselves around her.

She didn't understand why Sasuke and Reika was behaving as if someone sent her a bomb instead of a few flowers.

"We should put these in some water," she said when Uchito's little hand tugged at her own.

"Absolutely not," her husband growled harshly, his face shuttered, his eyes forbidding once more.

The tiny ensuing silence was electrifying and, for no reason that she could fathom, her heart began to beat like a drum gone out of control.

Then cold anger took over as Sasuke told her without an atom of shame. "The only time someone other than me is allowed to send you flowers is if they're leaving them by your graveside. Dispose of them."

OoOoOoOo

Tenten stared at him white-faced. He was un-fucking-believable.

"Dispose of them?" she was so surprised by his reaction that she could only repeat what he had said and stare uncomprehendingly up at him.

Uchito's gasp ripped through the silence as if he'd slashed it with a knife. "No. Daddy ew mad? These war ex-pen-pig furr-wers."

"Take your brother and get out," Sasuke instructed but his eyes were still on Tenten, giving her a grim-eyed glare. "Who is Lover Boy K?"

"Hai," Reika nodded, resting a hand on Uchito's shoulder to steer him out of the room.

After one tiny, frozen second, the youngest Uchiha swung round on the balls of his feet and snapped at his sister, "Eave me alone."

"Quit being such a mommy's boy and come on," she gave him a tiny shake.

There was a frighteningly hard glitter in his little onyx eyes, "No. Daddy ill be mean to Mommy."

"Who is Lover boy K?" Sasuke asked again, his voice dry.

"Someone who obviously doesn't value his life," Reika supplied with a thread of hard, dark irony in her voice.

"Clearly."

"You guys are way too much," Tenten laughed. "Quit being paranoid," she said hoarsely. "I don't know any such person."

"Is that so?" Black eyes impaled her, the lancing golden gleam almost her undoing. "Then why are you receiving flowers and dinner invites from him?" Sasuke demanded thickly and then proceeded to read the card aloud. "The other night was fun. What do you say to dinner at that new Teppanyaki restaurant in town? Seven o'clock. Wear something sexy."

"Um ting pepsi?" Uchito arched a brow.

What?

A shudder wrenched through Tenten's slender body but she suppressed it, unwilling to let him know how deeply everything about him could affect her—especially his anger. And, she discovered belatedly, his suspicion as well.

"Sasuke," she choked and spluttered in disbelief. "Obviously there has been some mistake."

"A mistake? Yet you were so eager to claim the flowers?" A mask seemed to drop down over his features, his eyelids lowering to conceal his thoughts from her.

Her heart dropped sickeningly. She didn't know why she suddenly wanted to cry. But she did. It was ridiculous. Why shouldn't he believe her? A woman who had taken another lover in the absence of her husband would not have been some responsive and damn near desperate in his arms last night.

And she had truly believed the flowers were for her given what day it was. But having had the card read out, she figured it must've been meant for someone else.

"Sasuke."

The grimly savage line of his mouth tore at her heart. She wanted to touch him. To reassure him. But he was blocking her out. That hurt so much. It was terrible to see the virulence of his rage.

"Fine, I'll toss it out." Tenten announced as if it was any consolation.

"Who delivered these?" Sasuke turned to his daughter.

Reika shook her head slowly and frowned. "Chito was the one who answered the door."

"What was he doing answering the door?"

She gulped, practically hearing the growl edge her father's voice. As much as he butted heads with Uchito, Sasuke was overly protective of him and he expected Reika to share that almost primal instinct to keep her brother out of harm's way as well.

"He ran off before I could stop him, daddy," she explained.

"You don't listen well do you, squirt?" Sasuke hissed at the boy. "If I catch you by the door again I'm breaking your legs."

A group of teenaged girls who lived down the block had once joked about kidnapping Uchito. Having had his fair share of stalkers in the past, Sasuke knew not to take these threats lightly. The kid was too peachy for his own damn good. Really, did he have to make everyone like him?

He had the gall to roll his eyes, "Ew got yolks, daddy."

Sasuke snorted despite himself, "I've got jokes? We'll see about that. Who gave you the flowers?"

Uchito's response was terribly jabbered and hard to interpret. Sasuke felt the brat was doing it on purpose—trying to cover for his mother.

"So, now you've got my kid keeping secrets from me as well?" he flung at Tenten in disgust after the baby's unintelligible rant was over.

She blinked as more words whirled around her.

Sasuke hissed at her. Bitter, vicious words that she didn't understand. Her brain just wouldn't process them—didn't want to accept them, but they wrenched her heart in two.

"What did you just say to me?" She couldn't have heard him right, Tenten told herself hectically.

Apparently she had.

"A-polo-eyes to mommy!" Uchito's little face convulsed. "Time-out. Ew a bad Daddy. Nut nice."

Swallowing hard, Tenten scrambled on to her knees, and began picking up the bits of flower petals that fell on the bed. "If you love that tongue of yours Uchiha, you'll hold it before I decide to cut it out," she snapped her neck angrily in his direction.

That was when the ring suspended on the fine gold chain around her neck swung freely from the neckline of her nightgown.

With a flare of hectic colour that she knew must look like guilt, she tried to push it back into hiding.

But Sasuke was too quick for her. He bent and grasped her upper arms, dragging her to her feet. One lean, steel-fingered hand snapped the chain from her neck and held it out.

Her diamond encrusted wedding band dangled and glittered with a brightness that suddenly seemed obscene.

A small sound escaped her, incoherent and strained. Sasuke ignored it. He held her eyes with his own and with a savagery as harsh as the vice of his single hand.

"What is your problem?" It was scarcely audible.

His words came slowly, precisely enunciated, utterly damning in the silence that was broken only by her fluttering heartbeats. "Why is this around your neck and not where I left it—on your finger?"

Uchito's writhed himself between them, "Et mommy go!" he kicked Sasuke in the shin and repeatedly pounded his tiny fists into his thighs. "Ew always so mean. Hats wang wit ew?"

"What's wrong with me?" Sasuke echoed, taken aback by the toddler's audacity. "Get your brother out of my way if you do not wish to be an only child," he warned.

Reika hesitated at first, "That's fine by me."

"Out. Both of you. Now."

"No," Uchito flung in annoyance. "Ew et out. Ew yellus meanie."

Jealous meanie.

"Why did you take off my ring?" Sasuke's hand gave Tenten's arm a little shake while the beautiful ring swayed hypnotically from the fingers of his other hand.

His eyes bemused her, confused and held her. Black with emotion. She might have called it pain, if she hadn't known better. Anger she could understand. He wouldn't want to be seen as a cuckold in the eyes of the world. But there was more than that, she would swear to it. But what?

Tenten scrabbled around in her mind for an explanation. "I always take it off whenever I do the laundry—" she spoke urgently, "—I must've forgotten to put it back on yesterday."

He dropped her arm immediately and stepped back from her, dropping the ring on the broken chain onto the floor.

The heat of intense emotion dissipated and coldness crept around Tenten.

He didn't believe her.

The blank look in his eyes made her want to slap him silly. Why she would build a sordid barrier of deceit between them and risk losing everything life had denied her as a child? A family. She valued them above life itself. He knew that.

"I'm surprised you hadn't noticed it last night." Having taken a while to get over the shock of his accusations, Tenten was stung to long-overdue fury. Angry heat filled her face. "This is ridiculous. Chito is right, you're being—"

"—yellus," Sasuke's mini-me finished off, giggling.

He turned to his son, eyes blazing with irritation. "I'm not jealous."

"Es ew war."

One day he would kill the boy, the great Uchiha swore to himself. He was standing rigidly still. It was the only way to maintain his shaky self-control. He was not fucking jealous.

"And so what if he is?" Reika's eyes pinned Uchito where he sat. "She's his wife. He has all rights to be."

"Hut up!"

"I am not jealous!" Sasuke spat. For an instant there was something in his eyes that warmed the ice coldness of Tenten's heart, but it was gone almost immediately. His voice was crisp and curt when he declared, "And to prove it, I'll let your mother to go on her date with Lover Boy K tonight."

"Before we kill him?"

Uchito stared at his sister with horrified eyes, "Ew two war evol."

"Of course," Sasuke casually answered. "Corpses don't dine at the table, Reika. It's against proper etiquette."

Tenten gaped at him and asked dully, "Wh-what?"

His mouth tilted cruelly. "But there's a catch."

She could feel part of her brain cut out. The part that was always able to make sense out of Sasuke's madness.

"We'll all be accompanying her," his voice changed. This time it was smooth, and it made her feel strange and fluttery inside. "After all anyone who intends to date my wife, dates our entire family."

"Have you lost your mind?" An expression of uncertainty deepened in her eyes. "I'm not going on a date with a complete stranger even with your approval."

His voice lowered alarmingly, sweet, soft, dark honey. "He's not a stranger. He's your lover."

"You are fucking disturbed," Her words lashed him with disgust, hands itching to slap him for that slow, soft smile. "What kind of man agrees to something like this?"

"Not a jealous one," he assured her, sounding pleased with himself.

"But daddy I don't have anything to wear," Reika pouted.

Tenten fell silent, staring between father and daughter helplessly. They were one fucked up thought away from being certified psychopaths.

"We'll find something," Sasuke's voice was studiously neutral. But the expression in his eyes was a little heavy and strained. "This moron won't even know what hit him. How's your Chidori coming along?"

Reika's smile was dark and malevolent. "Hn. Nicely."

OoOoOoOo

Tenten adjusted the temperature of the shower and stood—naked—beneath the stinging hot spray of it. For heaven's sake, who forced their wife into a blind date just to prove they weren't jealous? It defied logic. Just as the emotions rising inside her did. She felt like crying. She wanted to lay her head against the shower wall and sob, but that would only make it seem as if the lie had finally caught up with her.

What lie?

The one Sasuke assumed she was telling. He may not believe her to have physically cheated on him—

Or she would've been dead by now.

—but he did believe her to be encouraging this mysterious admirer's advances. Tenten swore on her own grave, she had no idea who 'Lover Boy K' was.

She shook her head and washed her hair quickly before tipping her head back to rinse the soap from it. As her head lifted, her eyes jerked open, and her lips parted on a gasp.

The shower door was open and Sasuke was stepping into the spray of water. Powerful muscles rippled beneath his flesh. Her mouth went dry as she watched him slowly soak the cloth he held in his hand and soaped it with a bar of sweet-smelling soap that he held in his hand.

"This is from a set I brought back from the Land of Iron," he said. "It's jasmine. I figured your lover would appreciate the scent on you."

Her lips parted on a growl as he carefully set the creamy bar on an inset shelf.

"There's just the lightest tinge of sandalwood in this one," he stepped forward and laid the cloth at her neck before beginning to wash her. "Though it's often used in men products I thought the scent was appropriate. It's a combination of both of us—a reminder to you and anyone who forgets that you are my wife." He stared at her, his gaze dominant, possessive.

Un-fucking-believable. It was almost as if he was marking his territory.

Tenten almost swayed as she stared up at his face, fascinated by the heat in his expression and the scent that filled the air. It was not flowery or strong or even musky. Just clean and warm as it frothed with thick, rich bubbles.

"I think I like this one," he told her, his voice harsh.

She stood, shell-shocked, as he soaped her from neck to ankle. The thick, scented lather clung to her skin and filled the steamy interior of the shower with the scent of a new day and a hot male. It wrapped itself around her and heated her all the way through her pores.

He washed her stomach with slow, sensual strokes. Washed her thoroughly, then cupped water and rinsed her with all the anticipation and reverence of a first time Anbu opening his first pay cheque.

"Sasuke what are you doing?" Tenten finally managed to whisper, uncertain how to respond, or what she should do—or even what he was doing.

"I'm getting you ready for your date. Uchito and Reika are already downstairs."

She shook her head. "I'm not going. It's obvious the flowers had been meant for someone else. I don't know anyone by that alias."

She blinked in confusion as he turned her and murmured in her ear, "We're all going."

The spray from the shower washed the soap from her body as he began to lather her back. And that was even more sensual. She couldn't see him. She could only feel him. Feel the suds gathering on her, caressing her even as his hands stroked her flesh and delicately massaged her muscles.

The animal in him had marked his territory, now he was apparently grooming it—grooming his mate.

Tenten felt a little cry leave her throat and her knees went weak. The next instant his arm was around her waist, holding her steady as that diabolical washrag swept over her behind.

"Have you decided what you're going to wear?" Sasuke asked.

She shook her head. She couldn't breathe. She was sweating despite the water pouring over her. Tenten wondered if she was going to melt right there in the shower. Fingers of white, hot fire were raking themselves over her body, and she could feel her flesh burning with the most amazing pleasure.

She felt the water rinsing her. Rinsing as he stroked and cupped the cheeks of her rear. "Six months is a long time to go without my company isn't it?" His voice was rough, filled with hunger.

Tenten knew what he was implying but she could not find the words to retort or defend herself.

She couldn't even swallow, she couldn't moan. Her legs shook as she felt the weakness in them, and when his tongue flicked down the length of her neck, she knew she was going to sink to the floor of the shower.

She was going to—do something. One night could not make up for six months.

"Let me touch you." Her voice was whisper thin and pleading.

"Steady there, Ten." He gripped her hips and held her still. "There isn't time for that. We don't want to keep your date waiting."

She felt the water shut off and felt him pull her back against him.

Sasuke's teeth clenched as he opened the door of the shower. He kept one arm securely around her, and jerked a towel from the side bar on the shower door.

"It's time to get you dry," he turned her in his arms and gazed down at her drowsy, sensual features as she stared back at him in feminine confusion.

"Why are you doing this?" She watched him as though what he was doing astounded her.

Because it did.

She couldn't quite lay a finger on his mood today which was rare. Sasuke was always either in a foul mood or was getting there. He was bordering on sultry and annoyed right now. Conflicting moods from a conflicted man, Tenten thought to herself.

His lips quirked into an unwilling smirk, "I've already told you. I'm getting you ready for your date...like the not-jealous man that I am."

"And I've already told you, I'm not going anywhere," a sparkle of anger lit the depths of her eyes. "I thought you would want to spend today of all days with me—" she whispered, and the sound of her voice broke his heart.

All the loneliness, all the agonizing nights of loneliness and heartache that he had felt now echoed in her voice.

"—yet you're here forcing me into a date with a total stranger all because a three year old injured your fucking pride."

He drew the towel down her and stared back at her somberly. "Uchito's only following in your footsteps."

She flinched, bridling at what he was implying.

"You're always jumping to the wrong conclusions. I've never batted an eyelash at anyone else since you left. I may have missed you Sasuke but certainly not that much." Her mutinous gaze met his and she had to bite her lip to stop herself from shrinking back at his look of disgust. But he was in the wrong, not her. So she tipped up her chin defiantly. "I initially thought the flowers were for me because today is—" she averted her face to hide the pain tormenting her from deep inside. "—forget it. Quit acting as if you've never made a wrong call before."

"Of course I have," he growled with force. "Apparently it was when I married you."

Glumly she shook her head.

He was so emphatic. So sure. Such a megalomaniac.

Tenten shivered. Hot tears threatened and she beat them back furiously. "Take it back," she insisted. "You don't mean that and you know it. I've never betrayed you."

She waited on his response with her heart in her mouth. Suddenly everything depended on this. Please make him believe me, she thought.

"A commendable attempt," he drawled, his skin taut with disapproval as he dried her slowly before quickly whisking the towel over his own body. "But I will know the truth tonight and if I don't like it, there'll be hell to pay." His eyes lifted to hers and in them she saw her own bleak misery.

Sasuke was dead serious, she realized. He hadn't been teasing her all along. She felt as if he had thrust a knife into her heart.

Tenten stood there silent and stunned and deeply hurt by his intransigence. "Fine. I'll go," she seethed, dashing away the hot tears which had escaped from her burning eyes. "I'll go on this stupid date only to prove that it wasn't you who made the mistake of marrying me. It was I in marrying you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" His eyes glittered like black stones and she shivered at his ruthlessness.

Weary of him, she muttered tautly, "You can't spell 'trust' without 'us', Sasuke. If there is no trust between you and me then there is no us."

OoOoOoOo

Tenten stopped by her walk-in closet and gasped. "What the—?"

"More gifts from your lover?" Sasuke surmised dryly. "Don't act so surprised. You must've known they were there all along. I saw them last night and assumed Yamanaka bribed you into a shopping spree."

Thoroughly confused, she shook her head. "I swear to you," she murmured, keeping her back to him to hide her reaction as she moved to the rack of new clothes.

Dresses and kimonos of every sort hung in a long line. Beneath the clothes were rows upon rows of shoes in protective clear boxes. Everything was her size.

Not many people were aware of it but Tenten was a sucker for girly clothes. She just did not have many. It wasn't like she couldn't afford them. It simply was because she had no place to wear them. There was no one she wanted to impress (Sasuke didn't count. He was already her husband) and impressing herself had always seemed a waste of time, especially when all she did was stay home with Uchito and occasionally train with Reika.

"This man is passing his place," Sasuke snapped, curling his fist.

"I don't know how they got there," Tenten turned to him. Her brow arched as he stared at her, his black eyes swirling with whatever emotions he kept within himself.

"Well obviously you're expected to wear something from all this," his eyes ran over her in insolent male fashion. "You're already one step ahead of the game I see," he derided, watching her run her hands over a non-traditional purple dress. "Shameless."

It was short, the back low, the straps thin, the bodice obviously snug, and low as well.

"Fuck you Uchiha," her eyes sparked with frustrated rage. "I'm only doing this to prove my innocence." She pulled the dress from the rack, bent to pick up the strappy sandals that went with it and retreated to the bathroom.

It didn't take her long to get dressed. Her hair was relieved of its buns and left to hang over her shoulders. Her bangs laid naturally and easily around her face. She had applied a minimum amount of makeup as well. Those tedious makeup tutorial sessions with Ino did come in handy after all, Tenten laughed to herself.

The dress was stunning. Light as air, it flowed over her. Snug and flattering, it shimmered over her body to just below her thighs. The strappy sandals added to her height, and as she stared in the full-length mirror, she let a rueful smile tip her lips.

Whoever the mystery guy was, he certainly had good taste. It was such a pity she would have to return everything.

Tenten brushed at a long fringe of hair that past the side of her eyes, then applied a light gloss to her lips before reentering the bedroom.

Sasuke was gruffly lacing his shoes. He glanced up and then froze. His expression shifted from curious to downright wickedly lustful.

"Let's just get this shit over with," she hissed, unawaringly posing before him—one hip cocked, a hand propped on it—while Sasuke looked his fill.

She felt beautiful when he stared at her like that. She felt awake, aware, and all female.

"If you don't change that outfit I can't promise I won't kill someone for looking at you," he finally breathed out roughly and came to his feet.

His white dress shirt emphasized his broad shoulders. The black slacks cinched at his flat abs and made his ass look like every woman's fantasy come to life.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were in fact jealous," she mocked, looking at him with hatred, and yet she knew deep down she was only agreeing to this for his own peace of mind rather than her own.

The accusations were preposterous.

As he escorted her from the bedroom and down the stairs to meet up with their kids, his hand low on her back, Tenten felt heavy panic weighting her stomach. What if this person had deliberately set out to sabotage her relationship and would fabricate tales to make Sasuke even more suspicious?

"Mommy! Mommy!" Uchito came, hurtling to his feet the second he saw her. "Ew hook pepsi."

Sasuke's left eye twitched. Did the little mite just acknowledge his mother as sexy?

"Says my handsome little prince," she picked him up and spun him around, kissing his cheeks. On the third twirl, she was deftly dispossessed of him. "Ugh! Uchiha, what is your freaking prob—?"

"He'll make creases in your clothes," Sasuke cut in, setting his fuming son unto his feet.

He would've gotten another kick to the shin except Reika intercepted it and stuck her tongue out at Uchito. His lips wobbled as if to start howling but she ruffled his hair playfully. "Big boys don't cry Chito."

No matter how much of a spoilt brat he was, there was something so painful about seeing the younger version of her father's face in tears.

"I don't care if he does," Tenten told Sasuke tartly.

"We're only going around the block, Uchito can walk," he said with finality and took Reika's small hands in his own. "I don't want you ruining your dress."

"Of course. I need to look my best for my lover," her eyes snapped with fury and stubbornness.

Her sarcasm won her a loaded smirk from Sasuke—triumphant and knowing.

By the time they left the house the brilliant orb of amber and tangerine that was the sun had already sunk low in the sky, dipping down into the horizon and painted everything in magnificent hues of fiery red and crimson.

The colours soon faded from neon pink to majestic purple speckled with diamonds as night fell and a large orb of opal began to assume the spot once claimed by the sun.

The Uchiha family walked to the restaurant in silence, broken only by Uchito's occasional squeals of delight as he kicked rocks and swung his and Tenten's joined hands.

"Ame No Ukihashi (天浮橋)" the big sign outside the restaurant read. It was slightly tilting to the left as it hung over the entrance.

Tenten scoffed, "The Floating Bridge of Heaven? What a pretentious name."

Uchito squeezed her hand and beamed curiously at her, "Hats that Mommy?"

She hoisted him up on her hips—much to Sasuke's annoyance—pinched and thoroughly kissed his cheeks before replying, "It supposedly connects earth to Takama-ga-hara." When his brows furrowed she added, "Kami's home."

His dark eyes widened, "True?"

"Its ancient mythology, baby."

Tenten couldn't help by crack a smile as she watched and listened to Uchito struggle to pronounce the words. He was her world.

"Maybe the food is so good you'll feel like you're in heaven?" Reika tried to reason, sounding skeptic even to herself.

"Or perhaps this lover of hers is hinting that she is his connection to heaven?" Sasuke breathed with no expression at all. And then just like that ferocious tension etched harsh lines into the almost feral beauty of his face. "You're not allowed to be that for anyone other than me."

"And still he denies being jealous," Tenten marveled with an icy bite. "Is this place even opened?"

From the windows outside she could see inside and it didn't seem at all occupied. In fact it was rather dark.

At the entrance there was bronze statue of a pudgy monk sitting crossed legged with his belly bulging out and a huge smile on his face.

The lobby was well-lit with tasteful, traditional furnishing. There were displays of plastic and wax replicas of dishes that gave visual descriptions of the style and price of meals that could be found inside. There was even an opened archway that led to a lounge area with embroidered couches and oval coffee tables with splendidly proportioned cabriole legs.

"Irasshaimase," The lady at the door looked up at them from a notepad. "Ah, you must be Tenten. We've been expecting you."

The brunette stiffened and shifted Uchito's weight unto her other hip. "I'm sorry. Did you just say that you've been expecting me? But how can that be?" She choked out, knowing exactly how much of a liar being referred to by name must make her look.

That earned her a scathing look so vitriolic that she felt as if Sasuke had stabbed her.

"What do you mean by how can that be?" His mouth became cruel and thin. "Obviously this lover of yours has been expecting you."

Her face crumpled at her inability to find words of defense, "Sasuke," she breathed timidly. "There has to be some sort of mistake."

He turned his back on her and she gulped, fiercely suppressing the tears which threatened to render her incoherent. Now she really did look guilty. Misery and fatigue pervaded her entire body and she would've sank to the ground onto her knees hadn't it been for Uchito.

"I beef ew Mommy," he told her confidently.

"You believe anything," Reika derided shortly.

Although she flinched, she could understand both their—Sasuke and Reika's—bitterness. This must have been a most terrible shock because Tenten fancied that neither one of them had truly believed her to be having an affair.

Which she totally wasn't. It was ridiculous.

"How can this be?" She repeated stupidly.

"You keep asking that!" Sasuke rasped in a harsh breath.

"I'm getting to the bottom of this," she declared determinedly. "I can't promise that I won't make a scene. I've kept my cool all this while because I know I'm not guilty of anything. But now—" Tenten produced three kunai knives from seemingly thin air. She was spitting mad now. "—this person is asking for it."

Sasuke whirled around as she disappeared behind the sliding door, his mouth tilting into a smirk, a delighted glitter in his eyes.

Inside the restaurant was scarcely lit. It was eerie. A single candlelight was an arc of brilliant gold in the blackness. It was eerie but romantic.

This Lover Boy K person must really have a death wish because whatever he was up to it was not only feeding Sasuke's bloodlust but also Tenten's.

The air was still and the flame barely flickered. It was steady and bright enough to relieve the darkness around the table it rested on, but it was not enough to show the rest of the room. There were fancy silverwares and slender necked wine glasses on the table. It gave off the impression that this was not the kind of place you get a table on impulse. It was probably booked months in advance.

Uchito's grip around her neck tightened and he pressed his cheek against her shoulder.

Tenten smoothed out his hair to soothe him. He wasn't too fond of the darkness.

"Hook Mommy! More furr-wers!" he pointed at the huge bouquet of roses on the table.

There weren't just the tight-budded roses she came across in Ino's flower shop but full-open, immodest blooms from an earlier straitlaced era—big, riotous flowers weighing down their slender stems, ranging from the most pristine blush to wine-dark, blowsy red.

There was a note propped against the beautiful bundle and Tenten reached for it.

A hand grabbed hers before she could snatch up the card.

Uchito gave a squeak of surprise.

Her head snapped up, her heart began to race. A cloaked figure had been sitting at the table all along, hidden in the shadows—watching her—watching them.

She yanked her hand away, her natural defensiveness taking over. "Who are you?"

Soft masculine laughter raced through her blood stream. "You're not very bright are you?"

Anger enveloping her, Tenten watched the person's face emerge from beneath the hood and into the light. She gasped.

Candlelight flickered over his features, highlighting the dark depths of his eyes, the creamy complexion of his skin.

"Sasuke?" Confusion filled her. Every muscle of her body froze. Only just now she had left him and Reika outside the lobby. It didn't make any sense. "What the hell is going—?"

Before she got to touch him he disappeared with a pop and in a puff of smoke.

"A shadow clone?"

Then the lights came on. The room erupted with cheers. "Surprise! Happy Birthday!"

Tenten almost laughed with relief.

Beneath the riotous collage of balloons, streamers and showers of confetti Tenten could just about make out the grins on the familiar faces—Neji, Ino, Lee, Gai-sensei, Naruto, Hinata, Kiba, to name a few.

With the darkness lifted she could drink in the sights around. They were truly something to behold. Table tops were layered with trays of the most delicious food. Drinks lined the walls. A huge three tier chocolate cake with blue icing drew Tenten's eyes to one corner of the room. The light perfection of the it and the richness of the frosting was the calling card of elegance.

It came as no surprise that Chouji was already filling his plate with finger foods. Shrimp, vegetables, tenderloin, steak and chicken chunks served with a variety of cheeses, crackers and specialty breads.

Surprise glittered in her brown eyes as they widened. "A party?"

A second later Uchito was cupping her face and pressing his lips against her own for a brief kiss. "Happy Earth Day Mommy!"

Her eyes filled with tears as she felt another small body crash into her own, wrapping its hand around her waist. "You're such a sucker. It's no wonder you fell for daddy." Reika told her, adoration rising inside her as she listened to Tenten's sobs. "Uchito had to get his birdbrain from somewhere I suppose," she joked.

"Hey!" Uchito protested, taking offence.

"You tricked me," Tenten pulled on his nose and heard the relief in her own voice. She really thought she would've had to kill someone for tarnishing her good name. "Your father and sister—I can understand. But I never expected you to be in on this."

He met her gaze worriedly. "Me a mooch-bag, Mommy?"

She brushed the back of her fingers against Reika's cheek. The girl grinned, all teeth, her amber brown eyes filling with laughter and admiration. "Happy Birthday Mommy."

"Thank you princess. And no you're not a douchebag, Chito. You're my precious jewel." Kissing him was her automatic response to everything he asked or did. He was just the cutest. "If anyone is a douche bag it's your father."

"You're still as gullible as ever." Behind her, Sasuke breathed in sharply a second before a rueful chuckle vibrated through his chest. "Do you honestly believe I would've waited this long to locate the goner who sent you flowers, clothes and an invitation to dinner?" His lips feathered at the nape her neck as he spoke. "He would've been dead by now, Kitten."

God, she loved it when he did that. Loved the sense of strength and protective power she could feel surrounding her.

"There were less dramatic ways of getting me here, asshole," she muttered. He had been so terrifyingly convincing, she had thought her whole life was in jeopardy. "I thought you forgot my birthday and believed me to be having an affair."

"As if you would dare."

Tenten sniffed and shook her head. "So you're Lover Boy K? Really Sasuke? Was all this necessary?"

"The party was Chito's idea," Reika confided grudgingly. "Daddy and I thought it would be funny to give you a scare."

Uchito pouted, "Meanies!"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted.

"A heart attack is more like it," Tenten told them. "If this was you acting jealous, I don't want to experience the actual thing, Sasuke."

A tearful laugh escaped her lips as she recalled something he had said earlier. It resonated with her the most and she sure as hell wasn't going to bring up what happened in the shower in front of their kids.

"So Uchiha...I'm your floating bridge to heaven, huh?" she teased.

"Of course," he told her tenderly. But then his voice became suddenly savage at her ear, a threat pulsing in his voice. "But you're the floating bridge to hell for any man daring enough to challenge who I am to you."

"What's that? A pain in the ass?" Tenten snickered. "You are absolutely impossible," she sighed, but it wasn't a protest. It was a sigh of complete approval. "But believe it or not, it's one of the reasons why I—"

"—I love you," he finished, the words comfortable, easy on his lips. "Happy Birthday, sucker."

A/N: Eh...fluff overload. It couldn't be helped. Its my Queen's birthday *fangirl squeals* I fucking love Tenten sooooooo damn much. Happy Birthday to my favourite girl! I am completely obsessed with her. Loads of people unnecessarily bash and criticize her. Even more of them overlook and underestimate her, but the hate and indifference only made my love stronger. Tenten is the reason I write Naruto fanfiction. Gotta let the Queen grace your screens (*^﹏^*)

I've been reading up a lot on Japanese Mythologies lately, hence the title and it's tiny bit of significance. I beg to differ with Sasuke right there though...my sweet darling Tenten is Heaven on Earth ;) Thanks for reading. Reviews are always appreciated. I'll love you forever.

Extremism is kind of Sasuke's forte...he had to be an ass to be nice here xD Of course I couldn't leave out Uchito and Reika Uchiha...my official SasuTen fanon kids from "Equilibrium" and "The UnPrized Uchiha" :)