Part of the Neji and Tenten Romance Collection: This story is a companion piece to my NejixTenten Romance fanfictions. Does not require you to read the others, but does follow within the same universe. If you would like to read more about their lives as friends, teammates, lovers, and parents please check out (in chronological order):

- Summer in Ginger Village
- Ice Cubes under the Summer Heat
- Mud, an Aphrodisiac
- December for a Hyuga

December for a Hyuga

December 02

Neji knew she was being capricious when she told him she wanted to decorate her old house for Christmas, too. She also told him that she thought it was a good idea for them to spend time together at her house. She then ordered the household staff to move her things back to her old house—"Just for December"—she would often tell him. But Neji knew that was the most ludicrous idea she could ever have; moving out of his powerful abode—full of guards and servants that could satisfy her every whim—to her old house this late in her pregnancy. What if something unexpected happened? It was December and she was due on January! Oh but she had insisted so much it made him want to bury his head on the ground like an ostrich. Later his uncle had assured him that pregnant women often had unusual cravings. But what could she possibly crave about her old house? The scent perhaps?

So here he was, annoyed and cold, outside in the balcony trying to fix the goddamned Christmas lights. Tenten also wanted every corner of her tiny apartment jammed with lights, decorations, candles, and every other ornament that made the inside of her apartment look like a damned carnival. He grabbed the Christmas tree-shaped string of lights and fought the urge to break the flashing decoration in mere frustration; the simple lights reminded him of last night, when he struggled against the Christmas Tree. Not only did the tree and decorations were against him, but also the house—the power just kept coming and going—Tenten giggles didn't help either.

But certain comments about Christmas Trees and dumb traditions of setting up lights had—extremely—upset the pregnant kunoichi (he ended up sleeping in the couch). Not only did he have to bear with the humiliation of being rejected of a warm bed accompanied by his young wife, he also had to finish setting up all lights if he wanted to talk to her ever again. Her unpleasant mood swings and cravings just made him want to never impregnate her again. He smirked, such thing was like achieving the impossible.

With a last tap from the hammer all the flashy lights were finally put in their respective place and he jumped off the roof, to the balcony, and walked inside. His body stopped for a moment as his senses were engulfed with the warm temperature and the scent of freshly baked cookies, the faint aroma of vanilla—that was probably coming from the scented candles—fussed with the much stronger scent of cocoa, and his anger left him, quickly draining out of him.

Tenten stepped out of the kitchen holding her swollen belly; she looked at him and asked coldly, "Are you done?" Her gaze warmed when Neji nodded. The woman quickly walked closer to him and buried herself in his embrace. "He was moving a few minutes ago." The hint of a smile fell on Neji's face and he nodded; his eyes had felt a faint pulse from within her when she exited the kitchen.

Neji held her hand and led her to their couch, where they sat and cuddled—well, mostly, she cuddled close to him. Tenten traced his chin with her long fingers, leaned even closer to him and planted a soft kiss on the base of his lips. "You wouldn't mind if he was a she?" She finally asked, cautiously. Neji looked back at her, softening his gaze as he did so. Among common tradition a male first born was a good omen, and a female first born was the complete opposite. But the more he thought about it the less he cared, what mattered was that they had created a living being, life from their life, solely theirs. His head shook slightly, and his fingers traced invisible patterns on the soft cotton dress that covered her belly. He had the faint impression that their baby would be a girl, he decided to trust intuition, which almost never failed him. A meek bell rang from the kitchen and Tenten quickly shifted to leave. Neji grabbed her hand and stopped her, his eyes pleading her to stay with him. "The cookies are ready," she said gently using her other hand to loosen her husband's grip on her, "If I don't go they'll burn." With this, Neji released her and she went back to the kitchen to finish her work.

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December 21

Christmas was in a few days and he had been too busy to buy Tenten a present. It wasn't only that he had been too busy; he just had no idea what to get for her. It was too late to order or get something extremely rare (shipping takes forever nowadays), if only he had thought about it earlier. Condensed air steadily escaped his mouth when he exhaled loudly, he noticed how cold his hands felt, and surprisingly his neck was beginning to get numb. He decided to take a break from his 'window shopping' and get some ramen; the hot meal should warm his cold, tired body.

Neji approached the outdoors restaurant and sat on a stool. Teuchi—commonly known as just 'the ramen vendor'—flashed him a toothy smile and gave him a cup of coffee. The Byakugan user was about to reject the coffee when the man said "It's on the house." Then he began blabbering on why it's courteous to give coffee—or tea—to costumers when it's this cold outside, and how it was so unusual for the streets to be so empty during the holidays. But Neji knew exactly why the streets were so empty: the villagers weren't very used to the cold weather that had settled on this winter. He guessed the vendor didn't notice that for being so close to the hot kitchen and smoky fireplace. Teuchi soon placed a cup of recently heated ramen in front of Neji, and he readied his chopsticks to start eating.

From the corner of his eyes Neji noticed the hooded character that was sitting three stools away from him move closer. The man took his ramen cup, sat next to Neji, and removed the hood from around his head. The person before Neji flashed him a grin of genuine joy. "Naruto," Neji finally said.

"Happy holidays Neji!" Naruto gave him a strong pat in the shoulder and Neji had to fight the urge to flinch; such invasion of personal space was not something that was easily ignored by the heir of the Hyuga Clan. "I heard Tenten-chan was pregnant. Congrats!" He gave him two thumbs up. Neji almost smiled when Naruto told him that; this meant that word had gotten out in the village, it made him proud; as if he had something others didn't. "Although I haven't been able to see her, you know, been busy with missions and stuff," Naruto told him with noodles between his teeth.

"Well, I haven't seen you around neither," Neji said and began to eat his meal.

Naruto turned to him, "I'm currently shopping for Christmas presents. I bought something for Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun, Lee-kun, you," with this he flashed Neji a toothy smile, "Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, Tsunade-sama, Konohamaru-kun, Ino-chan—" and he trailed off saying the names of a whole bunch of people Neji did not know and he felt ashamed for not buying as many presents as Naruto did. "—Hinata-chan, and for Tenten-chan too, but I think now that I know she's pregnant I should change her gift."

Neji looked at him with pure curiosity, "What did you buy for—"

"A super sexy bikini I got in the Village Hidden in the Mist." Naruto grinned.

Neji almost choked at this. Then he said coolly, "You know she wouldn't wear that even if she wasn't pregnant."

Naruto looked at him as realization just dawned on him. He nodded and said "I'll give it to Hinata-chan then," he said clueless, "Then I'll have two gifts for her." Naruto grinned, swallowed the last bit of ramen in his cup, and left.

Hyuga Neji shook his head, he doubted even Hinata would wear that, maybe Ino and Sakura, but Hinata and Tenten? Ha! Neji paid Teuchi heftily and left to continue with his hunt for a gift.

After what seemed like, extremely long, thirty minutes Neji came across the shop of a weapon smith and was genuinely attracted to it. The bells of the shop jingled as Neji opened the door and entered, the shop was seemingly empty; the merchant was probably deep inside his warehouse so Neji took the pleasure of looking around. Soon after, a stocky, tall man entered from the back door and smiled when he saw a costumer in his shop, "Need help?"

Neji turned to look at the vendor and said "I'm looking for a Christ…mas pre—" he trailed off when he saw a beautifully crafted bow poised on the wall behind the vendor. He walked over to the bow, and very carefully held it on his arms.

"Beautiful ain't it? Crafted by a family of travelin' smiths nearly two hundred years ago."

Neji ran his fingers through the smooth wooden surface, crafted with spiraling daisies to a state of perfection. The very front tip of the bow held a small, smooth jade surrounded by almost invisible diamonds that formed tiny flowers. The long string of the bow appeared to be lithe, but when Neji touched it he felt its durability and strength under his digits.

"It comes with a set of matchin' arrows, if you would like 'em," the man showed him a set of arrows that, indeed, matched the bow to perfection. The arrows were so beautiful it was almost impossible for anyone to want to use them, eventually wasting them.

"How much for the whole thing?" Neji finally asked.

"A couple thousands."

"I'll take it." Neji took a pen from his pocket and grabbed a scrap piece of paper he found on a desk and began scribbling in his perfectly cursive handwriting. He turned to the man and gave him the paper as he said "Go to the Hyuga House tomorrow morning and ask for Neji Hyuga, remember to bring the bow and arrows."

The man took the paper and nodded. Neji's voice was like music to his ears; he could finally sell one of his most expensive pieces. The uncertainty he would often feel when selling expensive works to strangers was completely forgotten; the man's colorless eyes clearly told him that he was indeed a member of the Hyuga household. The vendor waved his unexpected costumer goodbye and watched him as he hastily left the shop.

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December 24

I was hard to phrase: Tenten found it amusing that the Hokage found amusing to throw a Christmas party on Christmas Eve. This frustrated Neji who wanted to spend some 'quality time' with his wife. The worst thing was that Tsunade-sama knew people were just not going to show up so she threatened to fire whoever refused to come. Sweet idea, really. Tenten, wanting to boast her big belly, was thrilled to go (which was weird since she wasn't the social type) so Neji had no choice but to comply with both women.

"Oh you look so nice in that," Tenten said slowly as she approached him. "You should have used that for your family dinner the other time." She began playing with his sleeves.

"We had to wear traditional clothes, remember?" He then, in turn, began to play with the strips of her dress.

Tenten's hand went up to bring Neji's face closer to her, she suckled his lower lip, and when done she gently pressed her nose against his. Neji leaned closer and kissed her back, more roughly than he had intended to, but the roughness in his kiss was forgotten through their passion. The Hyuga felt her hands all over his body and, almost, felt pained when he had to break apart from her yielding body; if they kept going they would, most certainly, be late for the party—or worse, not show up at all. Tenten's hazy eyes met his and she immediately turned around to the bathroom to finish with her grooming.

Once they were both neatly clad in their expensive attires, hair fixed in sophisticated styles, and with their wallets, purses, and house keys put in place they headed outside. Neji cursed the cold air that penetrated his very bone and almost had the idea of jumping his way to the celebration's location but he knew that in his wife's state such idea was as ludicrous and stupid as hers of moving out of the Hyuga household. Tenten held onto his arm and the married couple quickly made their way to the enormous building that hosted the Hokage's expensive party.

The loud music, the exotic treats and food, the strong liquors, and the crowd of people were all present factors in the Christmas Eve party. Women talking, men drinking, teenagers dancing, and children laughing; all made the atmosphere warm and welcoming. Neji and Tenten held hands the moment they arrived and only—very slightly—separated each other to salute and greet their fellow comrades, too afraid of loosing each other among the big crowd of people. The first to be noticed by the guests was not Neji, nor Tenten, but the unborn child that was growing within her. People gaped, congratulated them, and shared their own advice and anecdotes as parents themselves—that is, if they were already parents (the lesser group just shared a few jokes or walked away).

So after much casualties, smiles, and glares (most coming from Neji's side) Christmas day arrived. And it wasn't after what seemed two o'clock in the morning that the couple decided to call it a day.

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January 01

With white, passive eyes Neji watched the brunette before him hold the cause of his frustration and, even, joy. She stroked the soft mat of black hair upon the creature's head, and her eyes smiled at him in a silent, unspoken agreement, and he watched her back, his gaze slowly trailing down to the fruit of their union that was lying in her arms. Neji's heart burst with joy when the small baby—his daughter—opened her small eyes, slowly taking in her surrounding's light. With a steady, gentle movement Tenten handed Neji the tiny being, and he held her with utter care, careful not to hurt her in any way. The girl named Akemi—whose name had been decided between a rush of people, actions, and words a couple of hours ago when the girl first arrived to their lives—stared back at him and Neji was left surprised by the intensity and feeling her lavender eyes emitted. This was his daughter! Oh what a great New Year's gift this has been! His heart was about to burst with pride, joy, frustration, love, uncertainty—so many emotions rushing at once Neji was surprised he did not drop dead then and there—this was what if felt to be a father! He'd give anything to never forget this moment. For the third time in this day Neji's lips spread into a solid grin. He heard Tenten giggle; maybe she was enjoying his continued display of emotion.

The newborn girl pouted, then the pout turned to a frown, and soon she was crying again, but her crying was like music to his ears. Tenten hastily took Akemi away from her father; instantly doing what her motherly instinct told her to. The kunoichi brought one of her ample breasts out of her yukata and allowed their daughter to devour all the nutrition Tenten so willingly gave. Subconsciously, Neji's hand was gently placed on the child's head, and it moved up to stroke Tenten's jaw, often meeting with the loose, chestnut hair that fell from Tenten's, now tangled, bun. Tenten leaned her face closer, resting on his strong hand and with lazy eyes she watched her daughter eat; her delivery had left her full of exhaustion and yet her body wouldn't allow her to fall asleep, not until after her tiny baby fell asleep, too.

Neji sat there, next to the most important beings in his life, not quite sure of what to do, but his idleness did not bother him; just watching them would entertain him for hours, he decided. How beautiful they looked! More beautiful than Christmas decorations and expensive bows, and so he grinned again.

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