The board games sucked.
Playing with two cheating cheater females who cheat was one thing. Playing with three cheating cheater females who cheat that also teamed up on him was quite another, in Ren's opinion.
At least they were equal opportunity cheaters, too, and in some rounds, he teamed up with the other two against Hinata. Or against Ino. Or mostly against Temari, who always vehemently complained about stupid Konohan unity, but the smile had never slid off her face, even when she was hopelessly losing.
Once, Temari tried Hinata's cookies... Well, Ren remembered what they said about cookies and the dark side as he watched her munch on them with a deep focus that would fit more on a dragon guarding his hoard.
He was almost afraid to take a cookie for himself from the tray.
Hinata found the whole thing hilarious as she watched it with pride, while Ino just loved to smirk at Temari when she slowly leaned toward the table with a daring smirk and took a cookie while the Suna kunoichi watched her every move. Again, and again.
In the end, Ren went for the second-best prize and confiscated the bowl of chips for himself, while Hinata enjoyed her popcorn.
The snacks disappeared within the first hour.
Temari looked like a disappointed puppy when she ran out of cookies. And then, Hinata's shadow clone came from the kitchen, bringing a new batch of freshly baked ones, and the girl's expression lit up like a Christmas tree.
Ren, Ino, and Hinata secretly smiled at each other, inwardly collectively shaking their heads through the telepathy seal.
The board games were soon replaced by card games, and it soon became a free-for-all competition among them as they put in full effort and their training behind trying to swindle each other.
To Ren's surprise, Temari was better at sneaky stuff than he was. Well, he probably shouldn't have been that surprised. Both Ino and Hinata were better at the subterfuge portion of being a ninja than he will ever be. He had accepted that long ago.
It came from the fact that they were raised to be heiresses of their clans and thus, their very upbringing was geared to prepare them for the more underhanded ways of their world. As Rasa's daughter, Temari undoubtedly received a similar training.
The three girls would have trounced Ren in the card games if not for his genius invention, the transparency seal on his seal-work glasses! He could see through their cards. Sucks for them. He won almost every round. And even when he didn't win, he at least didn't lose first.
Of course, such a sacred technique... it had to be kept utmost secret!
Honestly, Ren just didn't want them, and most importantly, Temari, to assume he was using it to peek through their clothes. Which he totally wasn't! But would she believe that?
Heh. Better not to risk it, right?
He could get Ino and Hinata naked with a simple request. There was no need to go about it in this roundabout way. And Temari, well, Temari was now his wife. Technically... yeah.
Ren was certain that if he asked her, the girl would spread her legs for him. He felt she wouldn't be exactly happy about it. But she would not complain. It was her 'duty', after all.
Which just made him feel really bad about the whole thing.
His male giga chad ego reeled at the idea of getting into bed with a not fully willing girl. His fragile sensibilities couldn't handle it.
So, when they were done with their games and the sun had long disappeared beyond the horizon in the window, the atmosphere in the room became somewhat awkward.
Today was their wedding night, and they all knew what was supposed to follow.
Ino and Hinata looked a bit excited and expectant, but Temari looked like she was trying to psyche herself up to do something she didn't want to do.
Ren sighed. He couldn't blame her. They barely knew each other.
"You can take the guest room, Temari." Ren suddenly said, startling the Suna kunoichi out of her inner worries.
"Wha-?" She exclaimed in surprise as her mind registered the implications of Ren's words. Then, she shook her head. "No. I can take it. We can-"
"Do you want to do it, though?" Ren raised his eyebrow at her, and something in his eyes made Temari shrink as she felt like an admonished little girl.
"..." She stayed silent, unable to give a sincere answer to his question. Because she knew the answer she wanted to give was not the answer she was supposed to give.
"See?" Ren gave her a helpless smile.
"But-" And Temari was quick to complain, but stopped when she felt a gentle pressure on her lips in the form of gathered air shaped like a... finger?
She only had touch to base it on, but realizing what Ren had done, Temari flushed in embarrassment. She had never been shushed like this in her entire life.
With her distracted enough, Ren inwardly nodded to himself with praise for a job well done. He knew that Temari would possibly justify to herself why she absolutely had to sleep with him tonight. That doing anything less than stuffing his manhood inside of her today would be a betrayal of her village's intentions.
Naturally, it was nonsense.
But she was a bit too dedicated to Sunagakure at times. And from the little he knew about her, she could be stubborn as hell once she set her mind to something and accept it as the truth. He'd rather it didn't come to that. It was necessary to cut her off before she could get going.
"We are going to spend our entire lives together." Ren tried to reassure the girl. And he was not even lying.
The only divorce in this world was death. It's why there were so many missions to assassinate the wives of rich merchants or the rich merchants themselves. It's also why so many concubines of nobles or the Daimyo have unfortunate accidents when they get too... inconvenient.
Technically, Hinata and Ino could have, with the help of somebody like Hiruzen, declared the marriage unlawful or not recognized by the local authorities, with some political shenanigans, once Ren stayed full-time in Suna. But that only applied if the marriage was a quiet affair. The fact that it was so public was going to put a stop to any machinations of this nature, though, as doing so under the current circumstances would smear the reputation of their clans.
But Temari was not going to have this option. The marriage was for life for her. Either hers or Ren's.
"We don't need to rush into bed together." Ren argued. "I'd like to get to know you more first. We should get used to each other, and," Ren gave the girl a provocative smirk, "I am sure I will have you seduced soon enough anyway." He airily stated in a challenging undertone because he knew Temari had a hard time bowing down to challenges.
"Ha! Keep dreaming. I am not that easy." As Ren expected, Temari cheekily replied, contradicting his challenge. He doubted she could help herself. It was a default setting for her. But there was something conflicted underneath her mock defiant expression.
"At least, not unless the village requires it." Ino couldn't help herself and interjected as she nudged Temari with her elbow, making the sandy-haired girl's face fall.
"Ino-" Hinata sternly started.
"She is not wrong, though." Temari ruefully sighed as she slumped in her seat a bit. "I will be asked if I lost my virginity." She nervously gulped while distractedly rubbing her right knee with her hand as she slightly averted her gaze away from Ren. "We really should just get it over with." She muttered with a small squirm she failed to stifle.
"Then lie. You are a kunoichi, no?" Ren nonchalantly said with a measure of exasperation at his situation. He was here patiently giving her a way out, and she was arguing against it. Seriously, the girl needed to straighten out her priorities!
He was not a saint. He also found her appearance very appealing. He wanted to lift her off the sofa, sling her over his shoulder, and then walk to his bedroom before throwing her on his bed.
Her unreasonable protests certainly pushed his self-control.
"And if they insist on checking with medical ninjutsu?" Temari challenged, causing Ren to let out a long-suffering breath, much to Ino and Hinata's silent amusement as they watched the byplay, their heads moving between Ren and Temari as if their argument was a particularly riveting tennis match.
"Then tell them to fuck off. You are supposed to be their future Kazekage, for Sage's sake, girl. Grow some spine. Just tell them to go talk to me, and I will straighten them out real quick about what is and what is not their business."
That finally made the girl speechless as she realized that, yes, he wasn't exaggerating and he fully intended to do what he said. She idly noted that as an S-rank ninja, he wouldn't have a lot of problems 'straightening' people out with a few intense 'words'.
Slightly opening and closing her mouth as her mind whirled, trying to find a reasonable argument... and at this point, it was simply out of stubborn desire to argue, Temari was drawing a blank.
Ren slid closer to her on the sofa and gently took her hands into his, getting her attention, "I meant it, Temari. One of these days, you are going to ask me to take you to bed, not because it is your duty, but because it is what you want. I am going to seduce you. Properly."
He tried to say the most 'Playboy' thing that came to his mind, but his suaveness failed him at exactly the wrong time as the embarrassment prevailed and pushed past his inner barriers, and he flushed beet red at sounding so cringe before he could control himself.
Hearing his words and seeing his blushing expression with her wide eyes, Temari's cheeks involuntarily mirrored Ren's in their red color.
"I-" She tried to answer, only to find out that she was so out of her depth, she lost words. She ducked her head before realizing it. That made her even more embarrassed. And with an inward whine, Temari finally gave up as her will to argue was sapped with the overload of mortification.
"Okay." She quietly said in a slightly higher-pitched voice than normal, and Ren had to close his eyes as he inwardly groaned, getting miffed with all the squealing and squeeing that was coming at him from two directions via the telepathy seal.
Right. He had almost nailed it. No matter what anybody says!