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Ch. 1: And my life gets screwed over. Permanently.

You know how you sometimes make a promise, but then it turns out there is no way you will be able to keep it? I was put in that position.

Although, a broken promise to the idiot who did this to me was the least of my worries at the time…

XxXxX

"Hello, Tenten!" Lee greeted me energetically when I entered the training field.

"Hi", I replied, forcing a smile. I looked around the glade nervously, trying to find him. When I didn't, I turned back to Lee.

"Hey, where's Neji?" I asked.

"Right behind you", a smooth voice told me.

I let out an embarrassing little shriek and spun around, fist raised to hit him. He grabbed my arm before I could hurt him, and smirked.

"Calm down", he said. "You shouldn't be that jumpy; you're a shinobi."

I glared at him and tried to pull my arm out of his vice-like grip. I didn't do very well.

"Let go of me", I told him between clenched teeth. "I am not in the mood."

His smirk grew wider, but he let my arm go and walked past me. "You're early today", he commented.

I didn't answer, just glared at his back. I didn't know whether it was my imagination, but ever since we'd come back from that stupid mission a month ago he had seemed like more of a jerk than he was usually. I couldn't understand why the hell I had bugged him to talk more before; nowadays when he did I had a hard time not strangling him!

I'd tried once actually, but with his stupid muscular stupid strong stupid arms he'd stopped me. And then the idiot had laughed at me! I mean, how stupid is that?

Either way…

I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest, keeping my eyes fixed on his back. I really wondered how he'd react to the news… I kinda hoped he would freak. That way I would at least get one laugh out of this.

All I knew was that he wouldn't be exactly happy, though. I was even a little worried, if he'd flip out totally and do something I would regret… But then again, it is Neji Hyuuga, the stoic ice-queen, we're talking about. So I probably wouldn't have to worry about him getting violent.

And it was his fault either way.

"What are you just standing there for?" Neji asked me then, glancing over his shoulder at me. "Let's get started. We're wasting daylight."

I rolled my eyes at his wannabe-cool act, but pulled out a shuriken either way. Maybe exercising for a bit would make me feel better. Although I kind of doubted it.

Four, five hours later

I'd been right; it hadn't made me feel better. Actually, if possible, it had made me feel even worse.

I was lying on the ground, covered with scratches and bruises that would look ugly tomorrow, panting harshly. My hair had gotten out of its buns and was tangled and messy, spread around me.

"What's wrong with you, Tenten?" Neji asked, and I could tell he was annoyed. "You're not focusing."

"You notice that after five fucking hours?" I hissed in response.

"I noticed it the moment I saw you", he retorted, glaring slightly at me. "I just thought you may get over it."

"And it took you five fucking hours to notice that I won't?" I hissed again. He was silent, so I decided to continue. "This is not a thing that some stupid training session would do anything about, expect make it worse! Hell, I sure wish it would help! If things were that simple, then man would life be amazing, but you see, they're not, and that is entirely your fucking fault!"

Neji looked at me for a while as if I'd gone crazy. I was sitting up now, glaring harshly at him. I wasn't even quite sure why exactly I was pissed; all I knew was that I sure as hell was pissed – so pissed that I was imagining how his nose would feel against my fist.

"TenTen, what's going on?" he asked then, sounding almost wary.

I got up from the ground and stormed over to him, grabbing him by the collar and pulling his face down so it was in the same height was mine.

"You want to know what's going on?" I hissed. "Do you? Well, I'll fucking tell you what's going on! I'm fucking pregnant, that's what's going on! And it's with your child!"

XxXxX

I was starting to get a bit worried. It had been almost half an hour and Neji hadn't said a word.

When I'd first told him he had just stared at me for like five minutes straight, and then he'd stumbled backwards against a tree that he was still leaning against, staring off into space. I had never seen him like this, ever, and I kind of freaked me out.

"Uh… Neji?" I asked carefully. "Are you, um… Are you alright?"

He looked at me then, his face blank as an empty white paper.

"Of course", he said after a few minutes of staring at me. "Why wouldn't I be? You're the one we should worry about. Pregnant, huh? Those morning sicknesses will probably be a bitch. Not to mention the mood swings and all that. Maybe we should ask Tsunade-sama what to do; she's the leading medical ninja after all. Talking about her, what are we going to do when you're too far along to be able to do any missions? Maybe she'll find you some paperwork or something. You need to get money some place. We can of course count on the money I'm getting in, but I can't be sure that'll be enough for both of us to survive. Maybe my uncle can help. And I'll try to get mostly A- and S-rank missions, to get more money."

I stared at him as he felt silent. A ranting Neji Hyuuga? I never thought I'd see the day.

"In case you're not getting an abortion, of course", he then continued after an awkward moment of silence. "But knowing you, you probably won't. So what are you going to do with the baby? Considering your age and all that maybe giving it to adoption or something would be for the best. But that's of course your choice. In case you're keeping it, we need to find a way to care for it then, too, and where are we going to leave it when we're both on missions? And do you want me to take care of it part time, or maybe we should start living together? When my uncle finds out he'll probably prefer us to get marri-"

That was it. When Neji Hyuuga not only starts ranting, but also the rant involves marriage, then it's time to shut him up.

So I slapped him. Hard.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed, coming back to his senses. I glared at him.

"Calm your ass down, freak!" I told him sternly, and he blinked at the weird line. "It's way too soon to start thinking about that stuff. We have more immediate problems to face."

He looked at me for a moment, probably collecting his thoughts, before he finally spoke.

"As for example?" he asked, his voice calm on the surface, but I knew him well enough to hear the panic bubbling just underneath it.

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out, closing my eyes. This was what I had been meaning to actually tell him, and honestly, I was really nervous for his answer.

"Well, I don't know if it's exactly a problem", I said slowly. "But it's a, eh… dilemma. And no smart-assnes now", I quickly added when he opened his mouth to comment, probably to point out the fact that a dilemma was a problem. "I'm serious." I took another deep breath. "The thing is… You don't really have to be a part of this in any way."

He stared at me, completely silent and with a kind of blank face. I was pretty sure that was his version of "what do you mean?", so I decided to explain.

"This whole thing would be really hard on you if people would find out it's your child", I said, not quite able to meet his eyes for some reason, so I focused on the ground next to him. "I mean, with your uncle and all. You're having a hard enough time as it is, what with the arguments within the Hyuugas about the branch-family and all that… If this came out, that would most probably mean things would never change concerning that. We both know how uptight those elders can be." I said the last part in an attempt to lighten up the mood, but it didn't really work out quite as well as I'd hoped. I coughed and continued.

"So what I'm saying is… You don't have to have any part in this at all", I clarified. "It really is enough if one of us suffers, I don't need to drag you down with me. I don't even have to worry about telling any parents or anything, and even if Tsunade-sama can't get me any paperwork for the time I'm pregnant I could always be a… waitress or something. I'll be fine on my own, I'm sure."

He looked at me for a while before he slowly opened his mouth. "…Who would you say the father is, if someone asked?" he said silently.

I shrugged and tried to smile, but all I managed was a pathetic twitch of my lips. "I'll just tell them I hooked up with some guy in the bar and we happened to forget protection", I said, fighting hard not have my voice break. "After all, that would be true." I made a pathetic attempt at a grin.

I knew he was going to take me up on the offer. It was obvious, and honestly, I couldn't blame him. He would be totally screwed if someone found out. I couldn't ask him to mess up his entire life just because of one mistake, even if the very thing happened to me. I was very well aware of the fact that, if I kept the baby – which I probably would; I just couldn't picture myself giving up a child – I maybe wouldn't be able to continue my life as a ninja, since a single mother working as a shinobi would be close to impossible.

Maybe it was stupid… But I wouldn't – couldn't – force anyone to go through what I was, even if – from a certain point of view – it was their responsibility.

I still was upset, though. I had been hoping he would decline the offer and tell me that there was no way he could abandon me like that. It was a faint hope and I had been beating myself up over thinking it, but it had still slipped into my mind and etched itself in there.

"So", I said then after a while. "…What are you going to do?"

Neji looked at me for a few minutes, and the expression on his face was almost pained, as if he was making the hardest decision of his life.

Eventually he opened his mouth.

"Are you…" he began, fell silent, and tried again. "Are you sure you would manage on your own?"

The words hit me like a hard punch in the stomach, but I didn't let it show. Instead I finally managed to pull off a smile.

"Of course. I'm a shinobi, after all." I grinned widely, and somehow it helped me keep the tears from my eyes.

He looked down at the ground before he spoke. Apparently he wasn't able to look me in the eyes. "If… if that really is the case…" he said. "And… and if it's alright that I… keep out of this…" He looked up at me then, and now his face was truly pained. "…It would make my life a lot easier."

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat as I stared into his beautiful, troubled eyes, but didn't quite manage. So I stood up instead and smiled as confidently as I could.

"That's settled, then", I said, my voice shaking ever so slightly. I prayed to all the gods I knew that he didn't notice it, or the tears that appeared in my eyes as I turned to walk away.

"…TenTen!" he called after me. I stopped walking, but didn't say anything in fear that my voice would break. He continued speaking softly. "If you need any help… Don't hesitate to ask."

I nodded and hoped he saw it though my back was to him, and then I hurried away from there as fast as I could without running.

XxXxX

It was almost midnight. I was sitting on my bed, my arms wrapped tightly around a pillow. I probably looked like a mess, despite the long, hot shower I took when I got home in hope that it would make me feel better (which it didn't, by the way). I knew my eyes were red and swollen, and my face was probably pale. My hair was a mess because I hadn't had the energy to comb through it after the shower, and I'd been pulling at it – something I always did when I tried to stop crying and didn't manage.

For the last three hours I'd been trying to sleep, but that's close to an impossibility when you're sobbing so bad it's hard to even breathe. And the fact that I felt like an idiot for crying didn't exactly make the whole thing any better.

Right now I'd stopped crying – it felt like I didn't have any tears left to spill – so I was just sitting on my bed and staring out into the darkness through my window. I really liked that window. It was huge and on the opposite side of the room from my bed, so I could easily see through it. The view was pretty, too – I could see the entire village, since I lived on a hill just outside of it – but now I wasn't quite able to enjoy it. I wouldn't even have been able to see anything if it wasn't for the lights of the village.

I closed my eyes again after a moment, burying my face in the drenched pillow. All the crying had made me tired, and I felt like maybe I could finally get some sleep.

After a while I drifted off into a restless half-slumber, my head falling down onto the pillow. It felt good although it was just a shallow sleep, and I felt myself relax.

I started dreaming then. It wasn't a pleasant dream. I was running through the forest where our training ground was, although it was much darker and spookier now, and I was holding something in my arms. It was a baby, a sleeping, pale baby with a beautiful face and chocolate brown hair.
I was searching for something. Or someone, I wasn't all that sure. All I knew was that I needed it desperately. My lungs were burning and my legs were hurting, but that was of course just an illusion, since I was dreaming.
Suddenly someone stepped out from back a tree. It was Sakura Haruno, that girl from Naruto's team.
"TenTen", she said, knocking on the tree next to her. "TenTen, wake up!"

I opened my eyes wide, staring up into the ceiling. I was sweating, even though the dream hadn't even been particularly scary. It was just that weird, desperate feeling I'd had…

I shivered, closing my eyes. For some reason Sakura's voice was still ringing in my head. Although it sounded kind of weird, when I thought about it… Much deeper, and somehow more real than it should…

"TenTen, goddammit, wake up!"

I blinked. Then I sighed, cursed my own stupidity and got off the bed in a quick motion, hurrying towards the bedroom door.

I jumped over the steps – there were like, five, six of them so it wasn't long – and into the living room/kitchen, and from there over to the door. Whoever was standing there had apparently heard my approach, since they had stopped knocking. They hadn't left, though, since I could see the shadow through the window in the door.

I opened the door, and stood face to face with Neji. For some reason I wasn't surprised.

"Yeah?" I asked, blinking and looking at him quizzically.

He looked really nervous for some reason. He tried to cover it, but wasn't doing a very good job.

"I've been thinking", he said immediately, not looking me in the eyes. Wow, he was doing a really bad job at covering the anxiousness up. Usually he was all cool and calm, and now all of a sudden he was acting like his cousin.

"Uh-huh", I said when he didn't continue. "And how did that feel?" He gave me an annoyed look, as if now wasn't the time to joke, and then suddenly he walked into my apartment and started pacing around the living room.

"All Hyuuga-children have the Byakugan", he stated all of a sudden, not looking at me. "If one of the parents is a Hyuuga, the child gets the Byakugan, no matter who the other parent is. There has never been anyone who hasn't gotten the gift. So we can be pretty sure also our child will have the Byakugan, and therefore it will be obvious to everyone that the father is a Hyuuga. And since I'm your teammate, and we spent that one night in the same room, everyone will correctly assume that I am the father."

"…What are you trying to say?" I wondered. I was honestly getting a bit worried. He wasn't going to ask me to somehow get rid of the child, was he? Well, if he was he'd get some serious fist in his face. I'd already given up pretty damn much for him; I wasn't going to kill my child on top of it all.

He took a deep breath and turned to me, a serious look on his face.

"I'm saying", he explained slowly, "that since everyone is going to realize I'm the father anyway… there's no use lying about it in the first place."

I blinked and looked at him in surprise. "…Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

He raised an eyebrow, calmer now that he had gotten it out. "Depends on what you think I'm saying."

Suddenly there was a wide smile on my face. In the fraction of a second I'd jumped on him and we were lying on the floor, me hugging the living daylight out of him.

"You're gonna be a daddy!" I sang, squeezing him tightly. He was turning kind of blue, so I lightened the grip slightly so he could get some air, but I was still hugging him.

"Guess so", he said, apparently feeling a bit uncomfortable. I understood that, since I was dressed in only a t-shirt and underwear, but I was too happy to care at the moment. He wasn't going to abandon me after all!

After a moment I rolled off him, but didn't get up. We both just lied on the floor, looking up at the ceiling silently. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, though, for the first time in ages. It felt nice.

I felt ecstatic. It felt like I didn't have to worry about anything now that I had him by my side, even though I knew that there was a lot to be taken care of, and things would be really hard even with him. But I didn't bother caring right now.

"…What happened to 'I'll be fine on my own'?" Neji suddenly asked. I blinked in surprise.

"Huh?"

He turned his face to me, smirking. "Wasn't it you who assured me that you wouldn't need me for this at all?" he teased. "And here you are, acting like I saved your life by taking over the role as a father. So much for the strong, independent woman you pretend to be."

I gave him a deadly glare then, but he just chuckled.

"Don't mess with the pregnant woman", I said darkly. "My hormones are stirring. Who knows what I might do when I get really pissed? I don't think you'd be too eager to know."

His lips twitched slightly, but my words had to have some effect, since he didn't comment further.

"But what are we going to do now?" he then asked. "Are you going to speak to Tsunade-sama anytime soon?"

I sighed. "Might as well go tomorrow. Just to get it over with. I hope she doesn't fire me or anything, though."

He snorted. "I really think not. You're too valuable for that."

I smiled and looked at him again. "That has got to be the nicest thing you ever said to me", I stated.

"Probably", he agreed. "But either way, I better get going now. Hiashi-sama will wonder where I am."

"Okay", I sighed and got up from the floor at the same time as he did. "Goodnight."

"See you tomorrow at the training grounds", he replied. "I'll come with you to Tsunade-sama."

"Okay", I said with a smile.

"Goodnight", he stated and exited the apartment.

I came over to the door and watched him walk down the path leading away from my small, homey garden. He looked good in the moonlight, I noted.

Suddenly some weird instinct took over me, and I called after him.

"Neji!"

He turned and looked at me as I hurried after him, stopping right in front of him.

"What?" he asked.

I didn't think it over at all; I just stood up on the tips of my toes and pecked him on the lips, very lightly. We barely touched each other, but there was still something very special about the kiss.

I pulled away from him with a slight smile and a very rosy pair of cheeks. "Thanks, Neji", I whispered, and then I turned and hurried back into my apartment.

XxXxX

If you think things were all done and well by this, you are wrong. As we already discussed with Neji, there was the matter of his family. And telling Tsunade was going to be a complete chapter for itself. You have no idea how nervous I was, it was just plain hell.

And Neji was doing his best to be a good soon-to-be father, but it just didn't come that naturally. And my hormones are soon starting to go crazy, which may be amusing to hear about, but less than amusing to experience. Although Neji always keeps whining about how hard it was on him, I'm still thinking that it was much harder on me, since he was just so plain annoying you wouldn't believe.

But you'll hear more about that later on…

XxXxX

Okay, I'm sorry to disappoint you guys, but the chapters to this story are probably all going to be pretty short. It's kind of just a "for fun" story, and not a "serious" story, like Roommates (and now I'm not saying the content of that one was serious, I'm just saying it was bigger deal, in a way). But I really hope you enjoyed this, and please, please review!

Thank you for reading, my darlings!

Metal-Blondie