Disclaimer: Most of the Akatsuki are still dead, so obviously I don't own Naruto or its characters.

Warnings: Manga spoilers. Pairings include SasuSaku, PainKonan, and a tiny hint of TemaShika.

Seedlings

"Welcome to Amegakure," Konan said, smiling at Naruto. "I'm hoping that these negotiations will be productive."

"Me too," Naruto replied, trying to rub the back of his head in a characteristic gesture, but finding that his Hokage hat got in the way. "I mean, Grass is the only one of the major Hidden Villages that hasn't joined the alliance, and it would be really nice if we could get all the big villages to be part of it."

"Hello, Naruto-san," a voice said from behind him, and Naruto spun around.

"Gaara! Hi! How have you been?"

"Quite well, thank you. I must say, your idea for all of the major villages to send permanent ambassadors to each other was a good one. It's made this new alliance work much more smoothly."

"Yeah, and I notice you didn't waste any time naming Temari as the emissary to Konoha, eh?" Naruto elbowed Gaara in the ribs in a very un-Hokage-like way.

Kankuro, who had come along as Gaara's advisor, huffed impatiently. "Could we all please remember that this is an important diplomatic meeting and not a sequel to Icha Icha Paradise?"

"Oh! Speaking of sequels to Icha Icha Paradise, guess who's writing one!" Naruto leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially in Kankurou's ear, "Kakashi-sensei."

"What's Icha Icha Paradise?" a small voice chirped. Naruto whirled around again (Sakura wondered how the greatest ninja alive could get surprised by people standing behind him so often), and saw that the speaker was a young girl with vivid blue hair and...

"Those eyes! Hey Konan-san, is that--"

"Yes, Naruto-san, that is my daughter, Asagi." With a somewhat stern look at the Hokage, she added, "She's seven."

"Eh heh heh," Naruto laughed nervously, trying to rub the back of his head again. His finely-tuned ninja senses told him that Sakura was about two seconds away from punching him in the head, so he hastily asked, "So, um, if she's seven..."

Konan nodded. "She was born eight months and three weeks after the Battle of Konoha. I didn't know at the time."

Not to be deterred, Asagi repeated, "But what's Icha Icha Paradise, Hokage-sama?"

Well aware of the two powerful kunoichi who looked like they were seriously contemplating beating the hell out of him, diplomatic meeting be damned, Naruto pointed into the distance and yelled, "Look! Is that the delegation from Lightning Country? I think it is! Greetings, Raikage-san! You have no idea how glad I am that you arrived right now!"

Kankuro rolled his eyes. "He never changes, does he?"

Gaara shrugged. "Not that I'm aware of, no."

Sasuke sighed. They've been in there for four hours now. He was eternally grateful that Naruto had asked him to remain outside and stand guard against anyone who might try to disrupt the proceedings. He was pretty sure that if he'd had to sit in the conference room and listen to the Kages debate territory borders and trade agreements for hours on end, he would have stabbed himself in the eye with a kunai just to end the boredom. Instead, he was perched on a small balcony near the top of Amegakure's central tower, sweeping the landscape below him with a red-tinged gaze.

"Oof!" Sasuke leapt to his feet at the sudden exclamation, one hand on the hilt of his sword. There was a metal grate near one end of the balcony, and as he watched, a small hand pushed it open. His Sharingan detected four chakra signals beneath the grate. Three of them were small and weak, obviously children. The fourth was strong but fuzzy--a more powerful chakra that hadn't yet been trained.

Sure enough, four children--two girls and two boys--clambered out onto the balcony. They were coated with dust, coughing and sneezing.

"We did it!" one of them yelled triumphantly. He had messy brown hair and honey-colored eyes. He brushed cobwebs out of his hair and held one fist aloft. "The Amazing Four have returned from their infiltration of Castle Sinister and successfully retrieved the Artifact of Salvation! Now, they must get it back to the Sacred Hall of Ancestors while evading the Assassins of Doom!"

Sasuke released his sword. He found it amusing that the kids still hadn't noticed him. Looks like the "Amazing Four" need to work on their perceptive skills. "And where would this 'Sacred Hall of Ancestors' be?" he asked aloud.

"Eeek!" One of the children squeaked in surprise, and all four wheeled around to look at him.

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and tried to look stern. "What were you doing in there? There's an important meeting between the Kages going on, you know."

"It's okay!" the brown-haired boy said hurriedly, waving his arms in what he apparently thought was a placating gesture. "Asagi-chan lives here! And she invited us over, so it's totally okay!"

Sasuke eyed the other three children, noting the hair and eyes of one of the girls. "So why are you all covered in dust?"

"Well..." Asagi shifted guiltily from one foot to the other. "Promise you won't tell Kaa-san?"

Sasuke said nothing, fixing Asagi with what Naruto called "The Annoyed Uchiha Glare."

"So, we've got this attic that I've never been in, but I always figured there must be all kinds of cool old stuff in there. We were bored, so we decided to poke around a little."

"Was the attic locked?" Given that the Akatsuki had been based in Amegakure, who knew what kinds of dangerous forbidden jutsu Konan might have hidden away?

"Um, sorta?"

"What do you mean, 'sorta'?"

"Well, it had a chakra-seal on it, but Kaa-san knows I can absorb a little bit of chakra, and if she actually wanted to keep us out, she'd use a lock that would actually work, right?"

Ah, the tortured logic of seven-year-olds. Sasuke wondered if this was what he had to look forward to when he and Sakura had children. "So, what's this 'Artifact of Salvation', then?"

The four kids glanced at each other, clearly realizing they were in trouble and trying to figure out what to do about it. Finally, the brown-haired boy called out, "The Amazing Four have been cornered by one of the Assassins of Doom, but not to worry! They have a secret getaway plan! Asagi-chan, GO!"

"Right!" Asagi took a deep breath, and without further warning, rain cascaded down around Sasuke. It was so heavy that without the Sharingan, he wouldn't have been able to see more than a foot in front of his face.

Fortunately, his ability to see chakra allowed him to detect the four chakra signatures hurrying around the turret in the center of the roof, presumably heading towards a staircase on the other side that led to a door into the building. Sasuke sighed. Chasing after errant children is not part of a jounin's duties. But if they've gotten hold of anything dangerous... He quickly made his way around the other side of the turret, appearing in front of four very surprised kids--who, he noticed, were all completely dry. Localized rain. Wonderful. Soaked to his skin, Sasuke wordlessly held out one hand. Sheepishly, the brown-haired boy put a small object in his hand, and Asagi waved her arms at the sky to stop the torrential downpour.

Sasuke was about to chastise the group, but the object resting in his palm rendered him speechless. It was a ring, made of silver, with a red stone set into it. Painted on the stone was a single kanji: the word "Scarlet."

I never saw his body after he died. Madara took it away. Sasuke stared at the ring, disturbed to realize that he was trembling.

"We're real sorry," the brown-haired boy was apologizing. "We were just bored."

"Asagi-chan," Sasuke said abruptly, "I know this belongs to your mother, but may I keep it?"

Asagi blinked. "Um...I guess so. We just thought it looked pretty. It was in this chest with a bunch of old cloaks and stuff." She shrugged. "But if I let you have it, could you please not tell Kaa-san we were in the attic?"

"It's a deal."

"How come you want it, anyway?" asked the second girl. "Don't only girls wear jewelry?"

"Nuh-uh," Asagi corrected her. "Tou-san wore earrings, I've seen pictures." But she looked curious too.

"This...used to belong to my brother. He used to live here."

"Here in the Rain Village? Really?" The brown-haired boy looked confused. "I thought our villages didn't get along back then."

"They didn't." Sasuke ran a finger over the cool, smooth metal. "We were enemies up until he died." He turned away. "You four, go off and play somewhere. Don't get into too much trouble."

"Yes, sir!" The brown-haired boy sounded relieved, and Sasuke heard three small sets of feet running down the stairs.

"The people who live here have always believed that everyone who dies comes back again, sooner or later. Kaa-san says that nothing ever really dies for good. I'm pretty sure she's right." The one voice remaining behind him was hesitant, and after a few seconds of silence, another set of footsteps skittered down the stairs.

"Sasuke?" Sitting on the edge of their bed in the guest room, Sakura looked up questioningly at her husband. He was standing by the window, turning some small object over and over in his hands.

"Hmm?" Sasuke turned toward Sakura, quietly slipping the ring onto one finger. He saw that his wife looked a bit pale. "Are you alright, Sakura?"

She sighed. "I'd be a lot better if I didn't have some kind of damn stomach bug. Every morning for the past few days..."

A tiny suspicion pushed to the surface of Sasuke's unconscious mind, and he activated his Sharingan. He stared hard at Sakura, and...sure enough, there it was. Tiny, flickering, barely detectable even to his enhanced sight, but undeniably there. A second chakra signature embedded within her own.

Sakura's elemental affinity was with water, but this new chakra was fire-type.

Slowly, Sasuke crossed the room and knelt down in front of the bed. With an expression of wonder on his face, he laid one hand against Sakura's stomach, feeling the ring on his finger grow slightly warm.

"Everyone who dies comes back again, sooner or later. Kaa-san says that nothing ever really dies for good. I'm pretty sure she's right."

"This time," he murmured, "I'll be the one to protect you."

I'm pretty sure she's right, too.

A/N: This story came about from the idea that ninja children would probably be a handful to raise, especially if they have an Advanced Bloodline. I completely made up the bit about Sakura having water-type chakra.

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