Industrious - Chapter 67

Honestly, I didn't know what I was more disappointed in.

I'd finally lost my temper. After all of the bullshit and bargaining and playing nice I'd indulged in to be a functioning member of society, I'd finally snapped. And, like most things, it was just a pissant little argument that had broken me. Teaching my new squad had already been something I didn't really want to do, at least... not in the manner I was being forced to conduct myself in, as a ninja, but it was the idea that I'd have to put up with a pair of idiots sabotaging my training sessions that had gotten to me.

Then there was the fact that I hadn't been punished for it.

That was also extraordinarily irritating, but on a deeper level.

There had been a formal complaint filed against me, but Hiruzen had effectively used the document to light his pipe with, for all that it mattered. The Hyuuga were, after all, virtually out of political capital after Neji massacred their elders. All the old man had to do was threaten to put a disciplinary action before the council of clans and they'd vote it down out of sheer spite, even if I hadn't had the Uzumaki, Uchiha, and Kurama in my corner to stop it in its tracks.

The general feeling about the entire clusterfuck was that if the Hyuuga wanted anything done about it, they shouldn't have actively celebrated the deaths of the people who could do something about it.

It was yet another reminder of just what kind of world I was living in.

What kind of world I was raising a child in, no matter how unconventional that relationship was.

...and that thought, as I stared out my window, stuck with me.

“You're stuck in your head again,” Tenten pointed out lazily from the bed, stretching and exulting in the soreness of a well-earned romp in the bed.

“Yep,” I nodded, keeping myself in place by isometric pressure, one foot resting against the side of the window and pressing my back against the opposite.

“This is the part where you tell me what you're thinking,” she replied, running a hand through her undone hair. I knew she'd insist that I help her tie it back into her iconic buns before she left, but... that was tomorrow, and I enjoyed seeing her in this state. “Because I'm not a Yamanaka and can't read your mind, Kota.”

I hummed and nodded, a hidden seal activating and releasing a canteen of chilled water for me to sip from. Swallowing slowly, I ordered my thoughts.

“What's your ideal world?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and sending a gaze her way for a moment.

Tenten blinked, remaining silent under my curious gaze.

“What brought this on?” She finally asked, rolling onto her side and propping her head up with one arm.

“Thinking about the future. Where I want to be, what I want out of life, when and how more kids are going to happen...” I shrugged.

Tenten looked thoughtful for a moment, then smirked. “Well, as far as how kids happen, I think we've gotten in plenty of practice. Unless you want more?”

She slid back the blanket covering her lower body enticingly.

“Tempting, and I might take you up on that after a little pillow talk,” I admitted.

Tenten snorted. “This is what passes for pillow talk? Well, I guess given who it is...”

“You girls knew what you were getting into,” I replied dryly, taking another sip of my canteen and offering it to the girl before giving it a toss her way.

Catching it and taking a drink of her own, she leaned back and stretched again. “Hmm... what I want? What's my ideal world? I guess... one where I wouldn't have to share you with two other women.”

She froze just as the words fell from her lips, instantly looking aggrieved over what she'd just said.

“Can we... just pretend that didn't happen?” She asked, looking away and cradling one arm with the other.

I dropped from the window and paced over to her, wrapping her in my arms.

It was all the answer she needed.

“I thought you were okay with this?” I asked, pulling her close. She was warm in my arms, the scent of sweat, metal, and blade oil coating her form. At this point, it was a comforting sensation, to catch wind of Tenten's particular mix.

She sighed and leaned into me. “I'm just... letting Yakumo have you for so long at a stretch has been hard. For Satsuki, too. She was frustrated when she lost the flip for today.”

I grimaced.

There was the urge to recommend that she bring Satsuki along the next time, but... this had been about Tenten and I, not Satsuki. It would have made things more awkward, not less. I knew her body language well enough to understand she'd wanted personal time for me and I had enough common sense not to say another woman's name while I was in bed with her.

“How do you feel?” I asked instead. “About all of this? I let you girls handle it between yourself, but maybe that was a mistake...”

Tenten shook her head, snorting. “No. If you'd gotten involved, things would have gotten messy. I know them and me well enough to say that, don't worry. You did the right thing, it's just...”

There was a long, thoughtful pause that I allowed to linger as I drew lines and shapes on her exposed flesh, sending gooseflesh rising and falling and her breath hitching.

“I think I love you,” she finally said, turning and kissing me.

I leaned into the embrace, one hand reaching for a breast instinctively.

Tenten pulled away, gasping and allowing her own hand to reach between my legs... then stopping. “No... I should... you were right. I think we do need to talk about... some stuff.”

“As my lady commands,” I smiled, kissing her again, then letting my expression fade into a somber one. “What's bothering you?”

“It's mainly you being so busy with Yakumo and Kokoro,” Tenten sighed. “I think it will go away when things get back to normal and I remember why I got into... all of this in the first place.”

“Refresh my memory,” I entreated her. “What were those reasons?”

Oftentimes, just having someone say something aloud reaffirmed that very declaration, though my main concern was that Tenten felt she was heard and valued right now. If I couldn't do that, I might as well call it quits on this entire relationship. I'd have to make sure to do something special with Satsuki tomorrow as well.

Which would probably involve a high-level spar with a little instruction on advanced techniques on the side.

That usually got her fired up and in the mood, and Satsuki was so much more chill after being pounded into a puddle.

Tenten chuckled and leaned against me. “Well, first off, I'm terrified of having a guy all to myself.”

“You'll have to explain that one,” I commented idly.

She shrugged in my arms. “It's just what I said. Relationships are stressful. I'm working full time as a kunoichi. Most guys would want me to take time off and be available and stuff. Especially civilians.”

I made a wordless noise of understanding. Civilian and ninja relationships were usually... strained. Incredibly so, at times. It worked more often with people who'd at least done the academy training, but even they didn't have the proper context for the brutal world of shadows and bloodshed you lived in as a shinobi.

That said, it wasn't uncommon for male shinobi to pressure kunoichi to step back from field work, either. That only usually happened after they made chunin, though, due to the benefits Konoha offered shinobi who were willing to show a few years' commitment. And, contrary to my distant memories of the 'Rookie Nine' or whatever, it almost always took that long before a promotion was even considered.

“So I know I'm being greedy, I guess,” Tenten sighed, snuggling into my embrace more. “I want someone to come home to, but I don't want them to ask me for anything. No... concessions, I think is the word. I get to go and take long-term missions or run around the continent if I want and whatever guy I pick up would have to deal with it. That's not fair to a lot of people, and I know it.”

“But I have Satsuki and Yakumo,” I replied, crossing the taboo, but for good reason.

Good enough that Tenten nodded as she continued. “But you have them. So I don't feel bad if Team Guy has a two-week escort into Wind or we have to be on a boat to Water first thing in the morning and I grab my go bag without eating a dinner you cooked. You can just call Yakumo or Satsuki to fill in for me. The reverse is true, too, and I'll probably end up making the time back with you when they're called away.”

“For what it's worth,” I interjected softly, “I would miss you. None of you are actually a substitute for each other. I want time with Tenten just as much as I want time with Satsuki and Yakumo.”

Tenten turned a pair of brown eyes to look up at me, smiling, and kissed me gently. “Thanks. That actually means a lot. I know you're not the type to think it, but I'm the odd one out, not being a clan heiress and everything, so I wonder sometimes...”

I shook my head, squeezing her tightly. “You shouldn't. If I didn't want to be with you, I wouldn't be. I'm here, now, with you. That means something. Don't doubt that.”

Tenten hummed, luxuriating in a rare show of emotional and physical vulnerability.  “That’s why I love you, you know?  You can say things like that.”

We were silent for a long few moments.

“The other reason I actually really want this to work...” Tenten sighed, continuing. “It's kind of like that, too. Like I said... I know you're not the type, but... you are amazing. And that means you'll have eyes on you. There are plenty of kunoichi who'd want to land you if you were single right now, let alone in a few years.”

Even if I could see the point she was making on an objective level...

Well, I was pretty easy-going, but I had my limits. There were people I couldn't deal with.

As evidenced by my recent incident with the Hyuga.

Maybe, maybe not.

“But with Satsuki and Yakumo you know that there will almost always be someone in the village,” I stated. “So there's less chance for someone to try and get at me.”

“And less chance for you to cheat, too,” Tenten grinned at me, the tease in her voice evident.

But I couldn't let a shot like that go, so I copped my own grin. “Honestly? You're more likely to find me in bed with Sakurai instead of another girl.”

She blinked, her eyebrows rising. “Really? Huh...”

I shrugged. “It's not a big deal. Sakurai's just... well, he's feminine enough for my tastes. But that wouldn't happen while I'm with you.”

“So if I talked to Ino and Naruko...” Tenten began slowly. “And got Satsuki and Yakumo's okay...”

I gave her a deadpan stare. The term 'thirsty' didn't really have the correct connotations here in this world as it did my old one, but I was sorely tempted to coin it. “Unlikely. You'd have to get Sakurai onboard and, last I checked, he's not into men. At all.”

Which was a half-truth, but Sakurai would forgive me under the circumstances.

He was still trying to land Ino with Naruko taking inspiration from my little harem and attempting a compromise. He didn't need the trouble Tenten would bring with that suggestion. In fact, neither did I. I suspected that part of her subconscious reasoning behind even joking about it was a subconscious self-sabotage attempt. If something that was primarily 'my fault' happened, she could declare the entire thing over without any fault of her own to answer for.

But this wasn't the time to unpack that, nor was it a serious concern unless it happened again and formed a pattern.

Tenten snorted. “Eh, worth a shot. Something I would have liked to see, at least.”

“I'll work up a transformation jutsu and you can enjoy it first hand,” I replied, a touch archly.

Which, admittedly, seemed not to work as it put her in a speculative mood as she looked down at her own body.

“We were talking about how I was going to remain loyal to you, Satsuki, and Yakumo,” I prompted her, making Tenten shake her head abruptly to clear it.

“Right... I just worry that I'm kind of out of my depth with you, sometimes,” Tenten confessed, sighing again.

I frowned. “How do you mean?”

“Kota... whenever we get old enough to actually start having kids,” Tenten began warningly, “Satsuki and Yakumo are going to have to host parties. Talk with dignitaries. There are going to be people who come from all over the continent to commission a single sword from you. I don't think you really understand exactly how big you're going to be once word gets out.”

And it would, eventually, get out.

I leaned back a little, taking that assertion in.

“And I'm a clanless orphan,” Tenten continued, then overwhelmed my forming response, “and that isn't me talking down about my skills. I might have some talent with weapons, especially after what you taught me, and the same goes for sealing, but I wasn't born into the same world they were. There's no way I get to claim a spot as anything other than the third wife, and that's being generous. Considering I want to get to the point where I'm respected enough to sell whatever you make to nobility and royalty and legendary ninja.”

I thought that over for a moment, putting aside the urge to argue with her over the - frankly realistic - fact that she couldn’t stand up to the backstabbing political courtiers of that level of society.

She wasn't wrong, not really.

My weapons were good, no doubt, though I didn't think I'd released anything on the Seven Swordsman's tier just yet into the Konoha populace.

My personal stash was another story.

Sarutobi only thought he'd seen the shit I was holding back.

But... that was only right now. There would come a time when I advanced enough to feel comfortable selling my current best off to Konoha ninja. That was how escalation worked. When that happened, though, it'd be obvious that Konoha had a master blacksmith capable of making them. If it was just one or two they'd maybe be able to write it off as a relic someone had discovered, but...

This was something I'd long understood and not really cared about, but hearing that Tenten was basing her plans for the future on me becoming famous and well-known...

“So that's your dream, then? Your ideal future?” I asked.

“Well, the most attainable one,” Tenten snorted. “There are days where my lifelong goal feels like it's to lounge beside a castle of dark chocolate and never go on another mission ever again. Those days are usually the result of getting too much swamp water in my pants and then crawling through mud to lose a scent trail, though.”

“Quite the dream.” I chuckled at the image. “So... right now, if anything were possible, what would your actual dream be?”

Tenten gave an amused huff of her own and kissed me again. “Anything? Hmm... Well, obviously a peaceful Elemental Nations where I could raise our kids – and Satsuki and Yakumo's – without worrying about them needing to defend the village. Then... probably a castle too, why not? Maybe something tropical, but with a nice winter retreat like the nobility has. Plus a forge and armory where I could work with you and learn all the amazing secrets you put into your weaponry. And whatever Satsuki and Yakumo would want.”

“Is that all?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“For now,” she stated imperiously, grinning slyly at me. “Be grateful I'm keeping things so tame. What if I wished for the moon?”

“The moon would probably be easier than a peaceful Elemental Nations,” I commented thoughtfully.

Tenten giggled at that. “It would, wouldn't it?”

Cloaked in mutual amusement, that silly and playful dream she'd painted lingered as we discussed specifics. I quizzed her on what type of castle she wanted, whether just one would be big enough for all three of my women or if I'd need more...

In the back of my mind, though, the idea of a peaceful world refused to leave.

A world where I wouldn't need to worry about my children defending the village.

That's what she'd said.

And now, with Kokoro, it was a thought I had to confront.

Without her, I could push back the bothersome politics and simply make my swords, spend lazy days with my women, and amuse myself bargaining with the Hokage over the castoff treasures he lusted for. Even teaching my new team would grow on me in time, I was self-aware enough to know that. I simply didn't want to have my hand forced in that regard.

Now, though... I had to face that possibility head-on. How long would it be until Kokoro wanted to take on a mission? How long until Sarutobi wanted to send his grandson – my student – to be blooded like a true ninja? Perhaps six years, at the most, for either or both of those eventualities. Then another decade past that when my own children would be born and grown enough to stare up at me with pride as they tied their hitai-ate to their foreheads and packed a bag to head outside the marginal safety of even the grand walls of Konoha.

The thought was still with me, hours later, as Tenten lay curled against me, sweaty and exhausted.

There was only one way to prevent that future from coming to pass.

“Peace.”

The word, whispered into the humid night air, tasted like ash on my tongue.

~~~

Okay, so first thing's first. If you haven't voted on the polls for the month yet, there's still a bit over twelve hours left at time of posting. Make your voice heard!

Looking at things as they stand now... damn, but Butler Boy impressed this time. With a showing like that, I might consider moving it to the main poll permanently. Though SAO will return next month, so I'll have to rotate out another project to keep things fair. Taking a hard second place and duking it out with Mind Games is certainly unexpected, though.

That said, Mind Games is still taking first place right now once everything is tallied up.

For now, though, enjoy the ongoing adventures of Kotaro and his oncoming realization of exactly what he's signed up for in settling down in a ninja village like he has.