AN: EDITED, This is a repost. I just deleted and redid it because there were a lot of mistakes I had to fix. bleh. But it should be all better now. Hopefully it's a lot easier on the eyes. ;p
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
The Return
Nestled deep in the mountains of Earth Country, tucked neatly in a lush valley, there is a little village. So far removed from civilization that it is still deeply rooted in old customs and old ways. A place in the present yet still in the past. Where electricity is a myth and the modern world does not exist. Where the whispers of the war are only heard on the wind.
On the outskirts of this village is a small cottage with its cobbled walls and thatched roof,, with its smoking chimney and little flower bed, a young woman lives with her two children.
She lives a simple life as the town's new healer. Growing her own herbs and making her own medicines. And when rogues threaten to invade their little piece of heaven she protects it with fists that can turn boulders into dust.
She is loved and respected by the village she cares for. But they know nothing about her. Save for the time since she came into their lives. She is a mystery an enigma. But they are simple and do not ask questions, only grateful that she is with them now.
She keeps her hair covered hidden away from the world. She can't bear to show it. Nor cut or color it to hide herself. She is afraid to lose much more of who she is. Who she was. And of being recognized. Sometimes in the dead of night she takes the scarf from her head and stares at herself in the mirror and pretends she is talking to her mother.
People had said she looks just like her.
On her nightstand is the only thing left she has from her life before. A picture.
A young man with silver white hair, a dark haired brooding teen and a blond who looks so happy that every time she see it, it makes her smile. The three are crowded around a younger version of herself.
A reminder of a much simple time.
She wishes she had brought the other picture. The one of a man, a man she loved, and left behind. But she smiles as she thinks it over and knows that she doesn't really need one, because she sees him every day. In the faces of her children.
A boy and girl, twins.
Their features haven't yet solidified into permanence, but she can see it. In the slope of his nose, and the curve of her lips. She sees him. But those are not even the most defining feature.
It's their eyes.
A strange anomaly she thinks in her children. Being twins. One eye as deep and richly emerald as her own, and one so pale blue they are almost white. And even though she has seen their eyes since the day they were born, it still startles her and reminds her of the life she left behind, and a man she loved but couldn't have.
"Mommy mommy!"
The frantic cries of her children caused her to rush outside bursting through the wooden door so hard it threatens to come off its hinges.
Her eyes widen as she sees smoke in the distance and knows why her children are scared. Gathering the wailing kids in her arms she holds them tightly as her mind whirls with thoughts of what to do. There is no saving the village, but she can't bring herself to leave. The medic and Kinoichi in her won't let her. She looks down at the two crying children and then looks up again. Her trained ears can hear the approach of horses on the path to her cottage and she begins to panic. She has to protect her children.
"Ryu, Keiko I need you to grab the bags, remember the ones I told you about in the cupboard. And the pack bags in the storage closet?"
They both nod as an even deeper worry sets in their features.
"Grab them and meet me out back by Kyoto"
She pats them on the back and sends them on their way while she stands and then runs around the cottage to ready a horse. A few moments later the children run out the back, they are wearing their little traveling cloaks and have little belts with canteens swinging along their hips while they tug and drag along the bags she told them to get. She smiles, so proud, yet sad at the circumstance.
She takes the backs and straps them to the horse securing them tightly. As she does she gives her children instructions.
"You are to go to the cave in the hills and only wait till morning. If I don't come to find you then you must, and mean it. You mustn't wait for me. You must head to fire country. Its southwest. You remember on the map?"
They nod again while silent tears stream down their faces. They are both trying to be strong.
She nods and kneels down hugging them fiercely, she has to hurry and send them on their way. She can hear the galloping of the intruders much closer now.
"Remember go to Konoha. It is the capitol in the fire country. Remember this name. Neji Hyuga. He will protect you. I promise."
"But mommy who is that? Why will he protect us?"
She had to take a calming breath as her lip began to tremble. Staring at her daughter whose question she knew was coming but still was afraid to answer.
"He's your father."
The children's eyes widened so big she almost laughed at the comical expressions, and would have if the situation weren't so dire.
"But if you can't find him, you must find a woman, her name is Tsunade. She was the Hokage last I knew, and might still be. Now tell me what are the names of the people you need to find?"
She looks between them both. Her son pipes up his curiosity overriding the need to listen to instructions. She glances up to the woods quickly then back to her kids,
"She is your Grandmother. Now hurry tell me what are the names you need to remember?"
"Neji Hyuga or Grandma Tsunade"
Nodding in satisfaction she quickly hugs and kisses them both and lifts them upon the horse.
"Remember just till morning and then go to the land of fire!"
She slaps the rump of the horse sending it running into the forest, tears stream down her face as she sees the wisps of pink hair fly out of the cloak of her daughters head as she turns to see her mother one last time before disappearing into the forest.
Sakura turns and takes a deep breath glaring at the oncoming dust cloud that wafts through the trees, and the cause that threatened her family and their way of life.
oOo
The guard sat under the shallow eave of the check in gate. Arms crossed and his legs outstretched. It was raining. A steady downpour that had lasted for the better part of the week.
He's thinking how he wishes it would stop already, rain was so depressing sometimes.
A shadow catches his attention out of the corner of his eyes as it lumbers slowly out of the forest. He stands and as it looms closer he notices it's a horse and there are two small figures slumped forward. He walks out to meet the travelers and as he nears the bead of one figure lifts, but the owners face is shadowed by the depth of the damp fabric and torrential rain.
"Hey there!" He calls out with a wave.
"Welcome to Konoha, you better hurry up so you can check in and get..."
He trails off as the figure visibly sighs and topples off the horse and into the mud. Soon followed by the other who falls a few paces after. The horse stops, when it feels no riders. Stunned for just a moment the guard blinks then yells for his partner to help him. He rushes forward and kneels down next to the closest figure and pulls the head into his lap pulling the cloak back he sees a young boy. He feels for a pulse and sighs in relief when he feels one. Its light but here. Setting the boy down he checks the other and as he pulls back the hood his throat constricts. He knows that hair. He checks her pulse and is relieved to feel the light fluttering as well. The other guard rushed out and takes the reins of the horse while the first guard picks up both travelers which he now knows are children and rushes to towards the hospital.
Upon arrival he yells at a startled nurse and after handing them off he rushes towards the Hokage tower.
"Lady Tsunade Lady Tsunade"
He screams as he crashes into her office.
"What?"
She's startled and a little irritated that he has barged into her office. She had jumped and spilled sake all over her paperwork. Her eye twitching she waits for him to catch his breath.
"You have to come to the hospital right away! Its urgent."
She gets up while he explains on the way.
When she arrives she rushes through the door to the room they placed the children in her eyes fall on pink tresses and she covers her mouth with a gasp.
The boy stirs a little delirious as he tosses in his bed and whimpers; she moves closer and pulls a light from her pocket ready to check his pupils. She pries the left lids open and an Emerald orb stares unfocused at her.
She almost chokes on her tears as the old wound is torn asunder and she truly realizes who these children belong to.
She goes to check the right eye and just as quick as she opened the lid she releases it again with another gasp.
Whispered words register in her already shocked mind behind her from the girl. She is mumbling in her sleep so quiet Tsunade has to lean her ear closer to hear her.
"Ne...ji..Hyu..ga... Grand ..ma...Tsu...na...de."
Tears well up in her eyes as she wraps her arms around the little girl and whispers in her ear.
"I'm here..I'm here now."
oOo
He looks up hearing the shrill cry of the bird of prey as it glides down to him in a lazy circle. Holding out his arm he waits for the messenger bird. When it lands he pulls the tiny scroll from its leg and unfurls it, and as he reads the contents his eyes narrow.
He knows he is on an important mission, one that is to gain pivotal information to help in the war against the Akatski. But whatever is going on back at home must be more important if they are calling him back. He hands the bird a bit of jerky from his pocket and lets it fly. With one last glance at the enemy's frontier he turns and heads home.\
oOo
"Are they really hers?"
A young man rushes into the room to stand next to the Hokage and they both watch the young children playing in the playroom of the children's ward. Their backs are turned towards him so he can't truly see the depth of what she knows and how much these two children really belong to the village.
"Yea they're hers."
The blond man stares at the backs of their heads. He sees the pink hair and hopes.
"They said their mother told them to come here if she didn't meet them at a cave near their home the next morning. Apparently the village was attacked and she stayed to help."
Shaking her head the woman sighs, "That's my girl."
"Yea" He agrees.
"She should have run with them and come back." He crosses his arms.
The little girl whips her head around and glares at him. He stumbles back pointing wildly looking frantically back and forth between the little girl and Tsunade. Who grins and nods,
"I know."
"That means.."
'Yup"
"Does he?.."
"I sent for him."
"Oh man."
"Uh huh..."
The little girl is standing now and strides over to them. They see her mouth move and suddenly her chakra flares and they know she has the bloodline. Pulling her fist back she yells at the blond.
"My mother is not a coward!"
And as her fist comes forward it lights up with the glow of her chakra and on impact the blond is blown through the wall. Tsunade just stands there, her eyes wide in shock. Only turning her head to look through the new hole in the wall at a knocked out Naruto who is upside down, two rooms over and then back to the girl. After a moment she laughs. "Oh yea just like her mother!"
The two children stand up and turn to the Hokage.
The boy speaks up as they both straighten their clothing. "Is there someplace we can train?"
She taps her chin. It's been a week since they were brought to the hospital they should be okay, she thinks. "Sure, I'll get someone to take you."
And as she turns to do so she is stopped when a small hand clasps her own.
The girl.
"Will you take us Grandma?"
Tsunade has to fight the emotions as she looks down into the pleading eyes of the child and smiles. "Sure"
They both grin and grab her hand while she leads them out of the door.
"Keiko you shouldn't have punched that guy. It wasn't nice."
"But Ryu he made Mommy sound like a scardy cat. Like she would run from the bad guys."
Tsunade had to smile as she listens to them talk.
"Yes but didn't you recognize him? He's from mommy's picture."
"Yea so? She told me once about him. And that she was surprised he didn't have brain damage from all the times she punched him too."
Tsunade had to stifle a giggle.
The children had only ever heard stories of the people in that picture and knew who they were. But they also knew they hadn't been able to talk about it to anyone in the village. Not reacting to seeing them was engrained as their mother had told them it was important to keep it a secret. But things were different now, and slowly they were opening up.
When they reached the training grounds the children looked around with wide eyes. The posts and dummy targets and the open land. They ran in giggling and jumping like children do after being confined in a space for much too long. The little girl running up and pointing at the plants and flowers calling out the names as she excited exclaims.
"Mommy would love it here. She could stock her supplies for months!"
The older woman couldn't have been prouder to hear the girl's knowledge and even at such a young age. And prouder still to hear her protégé had been keeping up and utilizing the skills taught her.
Finally the two stood next to each other and stretched for a few minutes before looking around. And then to her.
"What should we do to train first?"
Gather firewood?"
The boy asked.
"Stack rocks?"
The girl chimed in.
The sanin chuckled softly and shrugged.
"What do you want to do?"
The two looked around until Ryu pointed at a dead tree. Its branches long stripped by weather and time.
"Come on Keiko, let's go get firewood. Maybe some people in this town could use some."
"Or we can use some to make a fire and make Grandma tell us stories about mommy!"
She yelled as they both started running.
"Yea!" They cried in unison.
Tsunade couldn't help but laugh now at their infectious excitement.
oOo
He was tired, but he refused to stop. Almost there. He could see the gate in-between the branches off in the distance. As he came upon it he stopped to check in.
The guard's eyes widened in surprise as he fumbled with his clipboard.
"Captain you are to report to Lady Tsunade immediately!" He stammered.
With a raised brow the man nodded. He wondered what could have the guard so high-strung as to be acting so out of sorts. On his way to the tower he passed the hospital in time to see Naruto walking out the building holding his middle. The blond saw him and waved.
"Hey Neji! You gotta see Granny Tsunade."
He sighs. "I know that. Its where I'm going."
"Oh well, you're going the wrong way! She is at the Training grounds."
Neji stops in his tracks his eye twitching in irritation then turns around and heads in a different direction and Naruto steps up next to him.
"What're you doing?"
"What does it look like? I'm coming with you duh... You know for such a smart guy you're not very observant."
The man growls. "I can see that you're coming with me. What I want to know is why?"
"HA HA I'm not going to miss this for the world!" The blond just grins as she walks along beside him.
Neji turns his head slightly to the side observing the exuberant Nin next to him. There is an excited gait to his step and a smile plastered to his face. The young man wonders what this idiot knows that he doesn't.
Maybe...but then he shakes his head. Refusing to hope.
As they come upon the fields Naruto stops him and has him wait just before he peeks behind a bush.
"Just look, but don't go yet."
The blond is serious now, even though he can see a glint of that excitement in his eyes. Giving him a skeptical glance he does as he is asked despite his orders to seek the Hokage right away. And he is stunned.
The first thing he sees is a pink and his heart soars until he realizing that the being is much too small. Then he sees a boy with hair a familiar shade blinking as he looks down to his own briefly dazed by the similarity. His brows furrow.
The girl runs up the tree then jumps in the air sticking her hand flat out she spirals slowly and lands gracefully on her feet. The boy jumping back a few more yards. He can heard them yelling.
"Ready Ryu?"
She takes a stance and the boy calls out.
"I'm ready Keiko."
She pulls back and punches the tree. Neji's eyes widen slightly as a chunk is propelled straight out and into the boys hands, he lines them up in two lines as the girl punches them towards him.
Neji can't help but gape a little. Who are these kids? They seem so young but the control in which they exhibit is phenomenal. He noticed Naruto glaring at the little girl while rubbing his stomach, then turns back to the children and a clapping Tsunade.
How does she know them?
The girl runs up to the lines of wood next to the boy, one on either side.
"Race ya Keiko!"
He sees the girl get a determined expression and he almost falters. Grabbing a hold of a branch he steadies himself. He knows that look. He's memorized it. Sees it in his sleep.
"Grandma can you count it down for us?"
"Sure Keiko."
His ears perk to the title used and he chances a glance at Naruto who is giggling
"He he..Grandma."
He frowns at the comment and returns his attention back to the three out in the fields.
"Okay, on your mark, Get set GO!"
The children speed down the line only pausing at each chunk of wood, their chakra infused hands moving in a flurry of speed and precision while smaller pieces are flung neatly to stack in a pile next to them.
He activates his Bakugan and the children stop.
Tsunade is startled when the children suddenly stop midway down the line and turn their heads activating their bakugan in unison. She knows they have it but to see them use it is a little disconcerting.
"Someone is watching us."
Ryu squints off into the distance. Tsunade turns her head in time to see Naruto jump out of the bushes waving his hands in the air franticly for some reason.
"Oh it's just Naruto. He's okay."
Tsunade reassures. Them, but Keiko shakes her head.
"No, it was a man with eyes like ours."
Tsunade glances at the children and then back to Naruto finally noticing him pointing at the bushes behind him while he waves his hands around.
The children look to her as she turns to them with a smile,
"Oh, well then He must be back."
"Who grandma?"
"Yes who is it?"
They ask in tandem. She smiles wider and says softly.
"Neji."
The children look at each other and then whisper quietly.
"Father."
In unison before taking off in a dead run leaving the wood race behind them forgotten.
oOo
He woke up feeling groggy a heaviness on both arms restricting his movement. As he blinked away the haze he looked down to see what was holding him and his eyes widened. There on each arm was one of the children sound asleep nestled into his side.
"They refused to leave you."
He turned towards the voice. The Hokage smiled back at him tenderly with a helpless sort of amusement.
"You fell back and hit your head on a rock. You've been in the hospital for two days. She points to the children.
"They're the ones that healed you too."
Still unable to speak he looks down at the sleeping young and then looks back up. There is a worry in his eyes that she recognizes its fear.
"Is there any other news I should be made aware of?"
And for all his calm and composure his voice nearly breaks. It's almost undetectable but she has known him for so long that she catches it.
"No, except if you count you passing out in front of Naruto."
She grins, as she sees his eye twitch.
"But seriously, there is no news yet. I've sent scouts but I've heard nothing back. The children say there was an attack on the village they lived near, and their mother told them to run. To come here and fund us. You first, and if they couldn't find you. They were to find me. ..Neji, they know who you are to them."
Gesturing between the two.
"I think that's why they won't leave you. They said their mother told them you would protect them. That you were their father."
"And that your their GRANDMA!" Naruto cackled as he popped in the window but immediately jumped back out when he saw her expression.
The Hyuga looked down as movement caught his attention. They repositioned and nuzzled even more. Reaching down he pulled the blanket that was over all three of them up. He might not know these kids, but he knew them too. He could see her face and his, in theirs. The curve of her jaw in the girls face and the prominence of his brow in the boys. He knew them. And he would get to know them more. From here on out.
Suddenly his heart constricted to tight he thought it might explode as he was overcome with an emotion so strong he felt he would be rent in half. Tears welled in his eyes as his arms came round the sleeping children and for the first time in a long time Neji allowed himself to cry. He cried for all the hope he had held inside, and while he wished that she was here with them, this was the next best thing.
So unselfish and yet selfish of her to do this to him. He now knew why she disappeared. Why she had left him. He knew they were wrong to assume she had died. Or rumors that she had ran off to join that traitor Uchiha. No she left because she didn't want to face the consequences of what they had done. But she didn't know, she couldn't have known that he had taken all the burden from her already. Because the very next day right after she left him in her apartment. He had gone and taken care of it.
He had been with Tenten, but it wasn't working out. Yes, she was a great fighter a very skilled Kinoichi, but she just didn't keep his attention. Things were getting difficult and they had had a fight. He had gone to the bar to sit and drink Sake, Not to get drunk, but just to think. To let his mind get lost in the din of those around him. She had shown up, her pink hair wound in a bun with a pencil sticking out of it and a forgotten hospital mask pulled up over her brow. She had a notebook in hand and another pencil behind her ar. She looked tired, but radiant at the same time. He had always thought her beautiful, if not a little out there and somewhat temperamental. Maybe a little heavy on the mental part. He grinned inwardly.
She smiled at him and invited herself to sit pulling the pencil from her ear she opened her book and simply began writing. They stayed like that in comfortable silence for a few hours until she closed the book with a sigh. She had gotten up by then ready to leave and just as she was about to pass him she had stopped and asked he wanted to get out of here and come over for tea. Her excuse was that he looked like he could use some company. And for some unknown reason he had went.
He learned a lot that night. Not to judge others. Because when she started talking he couldn't help but become interested in her work. Apparently what she had been doing all evening was writing down theorem for new techniques. Not only for medical purposes but for jutsu as well.
She was excited when he gave input and jotted down notes. Thinking on it now. The cutting technique he saw the girl use on the tree was one of the things they had talked about. Honing the edge of the chakra on the hand and finding a way to make it razor sharp as one would on a chakra blade. He hadn't known what possessed him that night. But as it came time to leave he found that he didn't want to. He wanted to stay and get to know her more and so he did the one thing that even he was unsure of being capable of. He allowed himself to become vulnerable and kissed her. And to his delight and surprise she had kissed him back. Neither stopping or relenting one thing led to another and the next thing he knows he has woken up in her apartment a note on her pillow. She was called on a mission into lightening, and would be back in a months' time.
He had run to the gate to see if he could catch her but the guard had said she had been gone for hours. He then went to Tenten and broke up with her. His heart had not been hers for a long time anyway, and in the few short hours that he had spent with the pink haired woman she already had her foot in the proverbial door.
So when one, then two and finally three months passed. He became worried, requested and was granted permission to go look for her in lightening. He had found nothing. No scrap of news no sight nor lead of any kind. It was like she had disappeared off the face of the earth, and he was devastated.
The Hokage had gone into a drunken slur for a month before she finally pulled herself from her pit, while Naruto and Kakashi had volunteered for every mission possible that still led into lightening or nearby countries.
Kakashi.
He was out there now on a mission and had no knowledge of what was going on. What had happened?
He could only imagine the copy nin's reaction when he found out.
And Naruto. For all his annoyance and idiocy. Neji was happy for the blond. He hadn't seen him so happy in a long time.
They had hope again. Rekindled by the appearance of these two children. And a confirmation that the hope they had before was not in vain.
Laying in that hospital bed with the two snoozing children, His children he hugs them tightly. They were strangers yet he felt he had known them their whole lives. And he wanted them to feel the same.
From that day forward they were inseparable. He even made them beds in his room at the compound, which he quickly found out didn't matter as he would wake in the middle of the night with one on either side of him. This soon changed to how they simply went to bed at night. He trained with them every day constantly surprised by their ability to pick up techniques so easily. He was proud and amazed by the skill these two showed, and the drive they had for excellence. Never resting until they had perfected the jutsu or move he taught them. He was a father. And he was proud to call these two his children; they were hers as well after all.
oOo
She was weak after having been on the run for weeks. She's unsure if she lost them as she stumbles along the border between Earth and Wind. It's hot and she's tired. She sees some rocks jutting out of the sand a little ways into the desert, thinking her pursuers will think she won't go into the desert. She knows it will throw them off as the wind distorts her track and they disappear soon after. As she reaches the shadow the rocks provide she collapses into the sand. Unknowingly releasing a bit of chakra that expels from her body like a subtle rippling of wind over the dunes and a red head sitting at his desk turns his head to stare out into the vastness that is his territory.
"Something is wrong"
His eyes squint as he tries to recall hat familiar feeling that washes over him. He gets up and walks to his window. His brother and sister both his right and left hands in his rule watch him curiously.
"What's the matter Gaara?" His sister's voice pierces his concentration and remembers he's not alone.
"Something isn't right. Send for Kakashi. He is with the jounin at the academy."
Kankuro nods and runs off.
Kakashi meets them at the gates and they set off. Like darts flying across the sands.
As they flow over the crests of sand Kakashi sees it first and his heart almost stops a glimpse of pink fluttering in a bed of sand underneath a large rock. He doubles his efforts leaving the others to have to push themselves to catch up.
oOo
They are at Ichiraku's eating ramen. A treat after a long hard day. It's been a month since they have come and already they are all like a family and welcomed by all.
"You two just wait till I show you my Wind style shuriken rasengan."
Naruto says in-between bites of his soup.
"I can't do it all the time cause Granny Tsunade doesn't like it when I destroy the forest so much, but I'll get Yamato Sensei to grow the trees again just so I can show you."
He grins and they stare at him in awe, and giggle.
"Mom says your always doing things to get yourself in trouble." Ryu grins.
"Yea she says that you even painted the Hokage Mountain once!" Keiko says before she slurps up a noodle.
"HA Ha! Yea, I got in a lot of trouble for that one." He grins rubbing the back of his neck.
Neji just stares but his eyes are filled with amusement.
A sudden clattering of chopsticks as his children's head snap to the side both glaring at the wall, he notices their bakugan activated and follows suit.
His breath hitches. Its faint..but..
"What Naruto watches them dumbly with a noodle handing halfway out of his mouth.
The kids take off before answering and Naruto swings around in his seat. Just as Neji hops off and runs as well yelling over his shoulder.
"She's coming!"
"Who?"
The blond watches them run off and then like a light is switched on in his head he blinks and starts running too.
"You mean?"
Hopeful hears well in his eyes as he sends his chakra out and he feels her.
SAKURA"
He screams at the top of his lungs as he runs down the street past the tower.
Above him a woman hears and swings around to stare out the window and then jumps out in a hurry surprising her assistant.
Kakashi runs as fast as he can trying to get back carrying the woman in his arms. She is weak but alive. Though he doesn't know how much damage has been done or if she will even survive. All he knows is he has to get her home.
Coming over a hill he sees two small children running towards him with tears in their eyes he sees the pink hair girl and their strange mix matched eyes and then looks at the girl in his arms and he knows why she left, but he doesn't care. She is back and that is all that matters.
When the children reach him they stop him in his tracks and pull her down reluctantly he lays her on the cool grass.
His eyes widen as they get on either side of her holding out their hands which begin to glow a light green.
Neji slides to the ground on his knees and scrambles forward maneuvering to cradle her head in his lap carefully trying not to disturb the work his children are doing but unable to keep himself from holding her in some way.
Kakashi looks up to see Naruto and Tsunade closely in tow. The sanin's eyes shine with tears as she sees the pink haired woman lying on the ground and the children's chakra moving over her healing her.
"Amazing." She breathes.
Neji feels a hand on his shoulder. He is shaking but he doesn't care. He's so happy. Naruto says quietly.
"She's home." Naruto says quietly.
He looks down at the woman's face, and he knows she can hear because tears are leaking from the corners her eyes. The corners of his lips go up and he knows that everything is going to be okay. Leaning his head down he kisses her forehead and whispers..
"Yes."