Hello

First time caller, long time user.

So, I have been reading Naruto fanfiction for about 11 year now, I believe. (Yikes) Like many Naruto fans, I was very unhappy with the ending. I have always had a plot in my mind for after the ending so I decided to start typing it out.

This story is a way for me to procrastinate on school work, life, grade school applications, etc. and it currently has nine chapters. Really, I just wanted to post it to see if I could get a reaction and maybe publish more chapters as time goes on. But, this story is really more about fun for me than anything else.

It's set in the future, has heavy implications of m-preg, some SasuNaruSasu light love (but also some heavy scenes that will be able to be skipped), swearing, and has dear Naruto and Sasuke trying to run a village while also chasing after four children and trying to keep them safe.

I hope you all enjoy. And if not, don't rip me apart too much.


Static.

"The target is advancing toward location B faster than we thought. Sayuri, what's your location?"

"I'm closer to location C, sensei, I won't be able to get there in time."

"Who's near B, then?"

Static.

"I am, sensei. I can capture the target."

A fourth voice. "No, Ayumi, don't touch the target."

"I'm right there, Jun, I can get it."

"Ayumi. Don't touch the target." The fourth voice repeated. "I am nearing location B. I can get it."

"Junichiro, are you confident you can get there in time?"

"Yes, sensei."


"I'm sorry, but he will never be a ninja. No matter how hard he tries, his body is not cut out for it. I suggest that he drops out of the academy and enrolls in the school that the civilian children attend."

There was a sharp intake of breath.

"How could you say that!?" The sound of a chair scarping against the floor fell in time with hands slamming on top of the desk. "You have no right to say those things, it is not your job to… Kenta, wait, Kenta!"

It was too late, the boy who had previously been sitting next to him was already fleeing the room.

Turning back to the man behind the desk, he scowled. His shoulders were stiff, and his cerulean eyes were hard. "I'll deal with you later, but if I ever hear anything like that come from your mouth again, I'll…" He was at a loss for words. Him, a loss for words, stunning. He was too angry to think. Storming from the room, he flew into the hall, "Kenta! Kenta, wait. Can we talk about this?"

"Hokage-sama," he was intercepted by another person at the end of the hall. Great, what now?


"You idiot! I told you not to touch the target!"

"Why, so you could get all of the credit for the mission, Jun?" The girl cradled the hissing cat to her chest, trying her hardest not to let it go. It had scratched one of her pale cheeks in the process, and her long black hair was disheveled, showing it had been a fight to grab it.

"No, are you really as stupid as you look?"

"Junichiro, it's okay. Ayumi caught the target, the mission is a success." Came the voice of their sensei as he landed behind the two, Sayuri landing beside him only moments later.

Scowling, Junichiro stepped forward and yanked the animal out of the girl's hands. Her entire face was starting to grow red and swell. "Konohamaru-sensei, she's allergic to cats."

"Ah," the male scratched his chin as Sayuri—a medic-nin in training—pulled out an anti-histamine spray and used it on the girl who was now beginning to sneeze profusely. "Does the Hokage not know about this?"

"Trust me, he does," Junichiro muttered bitterly. "He's just not the most observant person nowadays."

Konohamaru ruffled his hair, blonde and uncontrollable. "Cut him some slack, he has a lot on his plate right now."

"Don't we all?" Glancing back to make sure that Ayumi was starting to improve a little, he turned to make his way to the office of the Hokage.


So she's had a fever since late this morning? Sighing, Naruto looked down at the squirming baby in his lap. She seemed fine, only fussy, but the daycare couldn't keep her if she had a fever. She would be seven months this week, though. She was probably just teething.

He needed help.

Since she couldn't stay at the daycare, and he had no one else to watch her at the moment, he had to keep her with him at his desk. He had been intercepted in the school building with someone delivering her to him, he hadn't been able to catch up to Kenta and talk to him. Who knew where he was, and what he was feeling.

He really needed help.

He was doing this alone and it was too hard.

A team was in the room debriefing from their last mission, but he wasn't paying much attention. His mind was everywhere but work today. He could feel Iruka—whom was to his left—glancing over at him every now and then, obviously worried about him, but he ignored it.

Naruto sighed again as the team captain finished up his statements, "Yes, very good, thank you for your hard work. I will deliver details about your next mission shortly, you have a three day break."

It's not like very many of the missions given out these days were too taxing on the ninja. The world was still relatively at peace from the last war. Only minor scuffles broke out between rouge ninja states every now and then.

As the team left the room, one of the special chunin who had been assigned to the missions desk announced their next team, "Team nine was assigned to bring back Tora the… fourth."

Gods, when would that lady learn that cats just weren't her thing?

Glancing up at the team as they entered, Naruto blinked, why was Ayumi's face swollen?

Junichiro, who was still holding the cat, handed it back to its owner—much to the bemusement of the cat—and joined his team at the front of the room.

"I see that the mission was a success, were there any issues?" The baby squirmed in his lap.

"Yes…" Junichiro began, only to be cut off by Ayumi. She had always been a loudmouth.

"Yeah, it was way too easy. Don't you think it's time that we started getting real missions instead of these easy ones that are meant for kids? We're genin, can't we get something fun, exciting, something that doesn't involve chasing children or animals, or picking up trash in the river?" She crossed her arms defiantly, she did this often, thinking they deserved more than they got. She attempted to look tough, but with her face so swollen she failed.

Something struck a cord within Naruto, she reminded him so much of himself when he had been her age, and normally he would just smile and let it go. Though today he wasn't in the mood for amusement and he snapped. "You will get the missions that I give you, and you'll be happy with what you have. You're lucky you are even getting what I give to you. Easy? You have scratches on your face and arms, your hair's a mess, and who knows why your face is so swollen. It obviously wasn't too easy for you, or you wouldn't be looking like you just fell through a thicket of thorn bushes. And if you continue to complain, then I will continue to give you these 'easy' missions until you learn the value of them."

Everyone in the room fell silent and stared at the man with wide eyes. Ayumi looked horrified standing there, and Junichiro looked pissed. Mouth gaping, the girl tried to defend herself but could only get out single syllables so she gave up and stormed out of the room looking like she was about to cry.

Junichiro turned to follow her, stopping in the doorway to glare at the Hokage. "I know you are going through a hard time right now, but so are we, and you have no right to take it out on us. Oh, and Ayumi's face is swollen because she is allergic to cats. I thought you would know that better than anyone else."

At the front of the room, Sayuri stood stiffly and her pale green eyes stared at him in horror. The baby in his lab was whining, not enjoying the fact that he had raised his voice. And Konohamaru didn't look much better than Sayuri, nor did the rest of the room.

Standing up, Iruka clapped his hands, "Okay, why don't we take a lunch break?" The rest of the room was too quick to agree, and soon it was only Iruka, Naruto, and the unhappy baby in the room.

Taking the baby from Naruto, Iruka cradled her and shushed her, knowing that Naruto didn't have the energy to do so right now. The blonde just put his face in his hands and sat quietly for a moment.

"I can't do this anymore," he whispered after a few minutes of silence looking up dejectedly at Iruka. "Everything is spiraling out of control. It's been four months, people are starting rumors."

Irukia knew the rumors he was talking about; he had heard them himself this morning.

"That's all they are, Naruto, rumors. It'll be over soon."

"But what if it won't be over soon, Iruka-sensei? I have no way of knowing, and I am going crazy. I have too much on my plate, and nothing is going right today. Hana has a fever and can't be in daycare, and I have no one to take care of her. Teruo-sensei told Kenta that he would never be a ninja today. And now I've forgotten that Ayumi is allergic to cats, just yelled at her for doing the exact same thing I did at her age, and Jun…"

"Wait, Teruo-sensei told Kenta that he would never be a ninja?"

Putting his face in his hands again, Naruto nodded. "Yes. I'm so angry, I wanted to put him through the wall then and there. And I haven't gotten to talk to Kenta about it because of Hana. I have no idea where he is, what he's feeling… And gods, I will never stop blaming myself for what happened to him. It's my fault."

"It's not your fault, no one blames you for it but yourself. There was nothing you could have done, Naruto, there was no way you could have known…"

"But I was supposed to protect him. No one could protect him but me, and I failed."

"Naruto…"

"But that's not the point. Everything is screwed up right now, everything has gone wrong today, and I don't know how to fix a damn thing. I don't know what to do."

Sighing, Iruka looked down at the baby in his arms and she looked up at him with the same blue eyes as Naruto. "You can start by talking to Ayumi and Junichiro and getting things cleared up. Apologize to them both, make amends. You still have work to do today, and a meeting in two hours, so take your lunchtime to apologize. I will take Hana until you are done with your meeting, that way I can help you with something. As for Kenta, and the rest of it… I don't know what to tell you."

"Yeah, I guess it'll work itself out. I hope it'll work itself out."