It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful afternoon that Tenten had seen in a very long time. The golden rays of the sun had settled themselves over the rolling hills of the land, jewelling the crevasses and knolls of the fields with unveiled glory. The majestic heights of the surrounding areas and the slopes of the valley combined to make the highlighted splendor that much more magical. She had a hard time watching her footing as she walked down the dip of the hill to where the old knotted tree stood vigilant in the crux of the valley.

Her strength had returned just in time to take a walk with Shino before the busyness of dinner with his father took all her attention. He was dressed smartly in one of those shifting colored robes that she wasn't sure was green or grey. The hue seemed illuminated in rich silk, enhanced by the bright firmament and dotted flowered hillsides of the terrain. They held hands as they walked to their tree.

Even with the distracting scenery all about them, she knew his focus was on her and it almost made her blush the way that she held his undivided attention.

"Tenten," his tone was too serious as her finger tips brushed the rough bark. She smiled up at him and silenced him with a finger to his lips. He almost looked frightened by the act as he stilled.

"Don't ruin the afternoon with apologies." Her hand trailed down to the front of his robes as she drew closer to his chest. Her voice came out only a whisper, "please." It was a two-fold request as she began to press her lips to his, something that he eagerly granted. Arms ensconced in his, she felt safe and more alive than she had ever been. Her strength seemed to return a little more with every brush of his lip, and with every possessive pull he made on her to guide her upwards to him. They knew they couldn't stay like this long, but they took advantage of their small window of privacy to remain intimate until their lips were swollen and they were out of breath. With reluctance they headed back again on foot, still linked hand in hand.

She found renewed energy from the walk and was even able to take another one at Shibi's request after dinner.

Shibi had only wanted a shorter walk around the extended garden in the back of the main building after supper. It was private enough for another intimate talk, one no doubt that would leave her a little bit more than uncomfortable. She kept on a lighthearted countenance as she watched the fireflies drift along the hills in the background and float in with their subtle lights to find refuge in one another. The idea was terribly romantic, yet Tenten refused to dismiss the girly sentiment, even if she was a kunoichi.

"Tenten," she almost chuckled at the way the two men spoke her name with such gravity.

"Aburame-san," she turned to face him, away from the flashing lights of the fire bugs. "I must thank you for allowing me to stay here in your personal vacation home for the duration of my recuperation. I am indebted to you." She bowed formally, leaving the older man momentarily stunned.

As she straightened up from her bow to open her eyes, she was nearly crushed in an embrace reminiscent of her master's. Eyes bulging suddenly from impact, she awkwardly returned the hug as she fought for balance. She didn't take Aburames for the touchy- feely type…with the exception of his son with her.

"You brought my son back from death itself; there is no way that I could ever repay you." His voice sounded broken. It was a good thing that years on Team Gai taught her how to deal with the uncomfortable situations such as this one. She generally waited them out and let them pass, trying her best not to exasperate the situation further all while hopefully adding a bit of saneness to an already awkward situation.

He composed himself before parting from her and she simply offered him a reassuring smile to try and comfort him.

He returned her smile with a poignant curve of his lip as he spoke. "Thank you, Tenten," he paused and took her hand to kiss the dorsal side. "For returning my son to me." She felt him squeeze her hand with gratitude. She noticed another wave of emotion brimming over him and she brought him back to her for a second and equally uncomfortable hug. She was suddenly grateful to her master for what seemed at the time non-sensicalnonsensical training. She would feel ten times more outside her comfort zone if he hadn't ritualistically prepared her for such social anomalies. Instead of feeling embarrassed, she decidedly felt honored that such a stoic man would choose to act in such an open manner with her. Her only ill at ease feelings about the whole situation were that she felt unworthy of the praise given to her.

"I deserve no such gratitude for my actions." She stated with a calming tone. "I, too, love your son."

"It is for that, that I am most grateful," she wasn't expecting him to say that. He clutched her so tightly she could almost feel his soul thanking her for her sacrifice.

The truth was, she really hadn't thought of it as such. Not a sacrifice. Not her. She didn't seem worthy of honor like that. She was just Tenten, Weapon's Mistress of Konoha. Certainly nothing she did could gain recognition from someone like the clan leader of the Aburame. The only thing she could hope for was that his son loved her the same way that she loved him.

(oo)

It wasn't until they were headed out and on their way back to Konoha that she was able to see Shino again. He had taken her hand in hand and they lazily strolled with a bunch of others out of the beloved valley which for a short time she considered home.

Strength back and confident as ever, she decided to enjoy the journey with Shino. She caught Shibi out of the corner of her eye, making his way around her periphery to greet the two.

"I may end up killing your father if he tries to thank me one more time." Tenten's glare focused on Shino with a calculated grace manifesting the composure that she wasn't joking around.

Soberly evaluating first his father, then the lovely kunoichi by his side, he reluctantly let go of Tenten's hand to cut his father off before he could reach her. Tenten watched the two from her peripheral vision as she walked forward on their journey home.

They talked like any two Aburame men did: with curt nods and low voices. That was until Shino broke out into a fatuous toothy grin nearly matching his father's own delighted smirk. Tenten couldn't imagine what those two could possibly be so happy about. She decided to leave it alone, too deliriously happy herself about spending the day outside with Shino to be concerned about such matters.

Shibi acknowledged her with a short hand wave before he left, heading back up to the estate where he had come from.

"Will he not be joining us?" Tenten queried as she craned her head to spy Shibi already half-way out of the clearing. Shino took her hand back in his and shook his head without any sign of regret.

"No, he has quite a bit of work left to do. There is still quite a bit of damage done to the town and of course the wedding arrangements."

Tenten gulped. "Wedding arrangements?" Her eyebrows shot up as she faced Shino, who didn't even try to hide the amusement on his face.

"Your master and Shinju of course," Shino explained after a few moments of watching the panic settle over her face. She watched another self-satisfied smirk glue itself happily to his face as he teased her.

"You are evil." She said without any real fervor. "I thought you were talking about us getting married."

"Are you opposed to the idea of a marriage with me?" Shino quickly turned from playing around to serious in an instant.

"Of course not!" She shot back. Wanting to say more but feeling too exposed to do so, she left it at that. The truth was that she did want to marry Shino, she just wanted time to settle into a relationship with him first.

"You would just prefer to have our relationship progress at a normal pace instead of jumping directly into a permanent role."

"Yes," She agreed, "Thank you for understanding." Shino nodded. She had the feeling he wanted to take it easy too.

They walked along comfortably hand in hand. There was something that she had meant to ask him all this time.

"So when you wrote me that letter asking me to bring along all of the things assigned to me from our first mission together, what exactly did you have in mind? And did you steal a pair of my underwear?"

Shino chuckled at her last question, which she only just remembered to ask and did so with quite a bit more curiosity than normal.

"First of all, I did not steal anything. I fully intend on giving you your personal belonging back to you. I needed a hair tie to trace your scent. Your imagination drew you to the conclusion that I purloined such an intimate object. As for the mission, I wanted to see you in the dress yes, but more importantly, the shoes."

Oh, so the man had a fetish after all!

"Wait, by any chance, did Kiba come with you to my apartment when you left the katana?"

Shino nodded slowly in the affirmative.

"He took my favorite pair of panties." She stated calmly.

"What?!" Shino ground out harshly.

"My my, Shino. First you let him take my underwear, then you send him into my room to lick me." She shook her head and tutted her tongue. "And you call yourself a good boyfriend."

Shino stilled and spoke gravely. "I am going to kill that Inuzuka."

Tenten chuckled as she prodded the stoic man back on his way. "Yeah, but first, let's just go home."

Shino let his hostility melt for the time being. There was plenty of time for revenge. Now, they had the whole day to themselves. He nodded his head. "Agreed."