The room was silent, as a man and a woman sat opposite each other; both awkward and tense. It had been months since their last interaction, months since they were last briefed.

"Miwa," the man said, finally breaking the silence. He raised his eyes to the women and at the mention of her name she stared at him anxiously, "Can I call you that now?" he then added,

"…Might as well," she muttered, heaving a sigh. Then Miwa shook her head shamefully and looked away, placing a hand on her stomach.

"Do you," the man tried to start, he leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. "Do you want to talk…about this?" Things grew silent again. Tension increased, and the man pursed his lips. "Miwa, you can't be having second thoughts, we've already accepted the mission; we cannot back out now even if we wanted to—"

"Aren't you having second thoughts Irie-san?! This…what we're doing, it's wrong!" Miwa retorted, appearing visibly distressed. The man brought a hand up to his face, holding his head in his hands.

"Of course this bothers me, but we made the choice! We have to see this mission through—"

"Not if we speak to the Hokage! I don't want to—"

"Miwa please!" The man shouted, slamming his fist to the table. Miwa blinked in fear as the man stood up. "You knew what we were getting into, if anything…this mission values you over me, without you then none of this would be possible. Miwa, try to remember what it is we're doing. We're protecting the village, this is our duty. It takes a certain person to do something like this, Danzou-sama said it himself; we are the ones able to bear this kind of burden. If we don't, then no one will."

Although painful to hear, the man had a point. The fact that he was right just made things worse, and the man moved toward her with the intent to comfort.

"I…understand," her face tilted up and she stared at him with fixated eyes, "but this child, it will never be normal because of its abilities." Miwa whispered back, her voice full of concern. "I never wanted a child…that's why I thought I could do this…but, now I'm not so sure." She whispered mournfully,

"Tadao," she began, and he placed a hand on her shoulder, "This child is going to grow up to be…Danzou's. Is that really what's best? After all…this child is just as much yours as it is mine." Tadao took a deep breath; he obviously pondered this and was just as shaken about everything as his partner, but he knew that this was the right thing to do.

"This child is going to grow up a true shinobi. It will be born with such a fate, so all we can do is make sure everything goes accordingly." Miwa turned away from him, and he blinked in confusion.

"I should have never accepted this mission!" She finally said, but Tadao comforted her, holding her close.

"But you did…as have I. Think of it this way, this is our ultimate sacrifice for Konoha. All we can do for the child," he said placing his hands on her pregnant belly. "Is make sure it is loved, and pass on our love of Konoha onto it. Be strong," The partners understood that the child would never be theirs to keep. Danzou would one day come for it, but until then, they were still the child's parents…