Disclaimer: I don't own "Naruto" but at least the fillers end this week.
Chapter 1: Family Reunion
The late afternoon sun shone on the small courtyard and filtered into the large dojo through the open windows. Several Suna nin mingled with their Konoha counterparts as they sat or stood scattered around the room while a group of children laughed and ran after each other. The adults paid little attention to the children's antics, but they did keep an eye out for the smaller ones.
For some reason, toddlers always found the strangest things to put in their mouths.
Jocelyn paused at the entrance to the dojo and let a small smile creep onto her face. Shikamaru and Temari sat with Kankuro as they talked. Every now and then, one of Temari's daughters would run by and let their face-paint wearing uncle pat their heads. The old members of Team 7 stood with Gaara and his wife, Kina. The Kazekage currently held a small bundle in his arms and tried to look as if he wasn't cooing at the newborn baby.
Kina laughed at something Naruto said and swept her long black hair over her shoulder. Sakura frowned and took the baby from Gaara. Sasuke smirked and simply watched as his wife of two years placed the boy in Naruto's arms. Laughter rang out from the group as Naruto visibly melted and started to make baby faces at the infant.
"Auntie Jo-Jo! Catch!" Reflex caused Jocelyn to catch the object thrown at her and she frowned at her niece. She looked down at the wooden kunai in her hand and her frown intensified.
"I told you not to call me that, Lilith-chan," she sighed. "And you're not supposed to throw these at people until your teacher says so."
"But you're my teacher, Auntie," the six-year-old redhead replied.
Jocelyn walked over to Lilith and knelt down to hand her the kunai. "And you're not ready to throw these at people yet," she repeated. "Now are you going to obey orders or do I have to take these away?"
"I'll obey orders, sensei," Lilith answered, properly chastised.
"Okay, imp. Now go play," the older woman grinned as the girl ran to her younger sister and proceeded to name the different parts of the kunai and how to hold it properly. Jocelyn turned and walked over to Gaara's group. She gave Sakura a big hug and kissed Sasuke on the cheek. She then turned to Naruto and held out her arms.
"What?" the blonde asked, without looking up from the baby's small face.
"Gimme," she demanded.
"I just got him," Naruto complained.
"You've had the opportunity to play with him for a whole month," Jocelyn shot back. "Now gimme."
"He's not a sack or a toy, you know," Sasuke mentioned. His arm wound its way around Sakura's waist and he caught his wife rolling her eyes at their friends' behavior.
"Of course he isn't, chicken-butt," Jocelyn responded using her favorite nickname for the dark-haired Uchiha. "But I haven't seen him yet. I don't even know his name. So, Naruto, unless you want to get hurt later…gimme."
Naruto let out a large mock sigh and reluctantly gave the baby to Jocelyn. She felt her heart squeeze a bit too hard when the baby opened his eyes and stared at her with a very familiar fathomless black gaze. Soft, black hair grew from the baby's head and made him look a bit like a ruffled bird. She laughed a bit at the thought and looked up at the couple.
"Looks like you've created the next generation of Uchiha fowl, Sakura," she giggled.
"It's just the static in the air," Sakura defended her son's hair and prayed that it was true. "Shinsei's hair is usually more behaved."
"Is that his name?" Jocelyn asked. "It's nice."
"Nicer than the name Sasuke-teme wanted," Naruto snorted. "That's for sure."
Sasuke stiffened in anger. "It was my father's name," he growled.
"Fugaku?" Jocelyn asked. "You were going to give this sweet boy the name Fugaku?"
"It's not that bad," the dark-haired man muttered.
"Yes, it is," Sakura, Naruto, Kina, and Gaara chorused.
A reluctant smile formed on the Uchiha's face and he chuckled at the looks on his friend's faces. He looked at his foster sister, Kina, and then at her cousin, Jocelyn. "I noticed that Ayo and Maayo are taking after their auntie in their choices of clothing," he remarked.
"Yes," she remarked. "They enjoy the freedom of movement."
As one, the group turned to watch Kina and Gaara's three-year-old twins playing with the other children. Sure enough, the two little demons were wearing tiny hakamas—Ayo wore blue while his sister wore red—over white kimonos. Naruto stifled a small laugh when Maayo tripped over the hem of her hakama and ended up pushing Temari's eldest daughter, Shikahime, to the ground.
"Well," Jocelyn amended. "They enjoy a certain degree of movement." The soft laughter that came from her throat faded away when she felt the presence of someone new enter the room. Kina and Sakura shared a troubled look and bit their lips. Kina held out her hands for the baby and sighed when Jocelyn gave him to her.
"Ah, Jocelyn-chan," Sakura began. "Tsunade-sama wanted him to come along with us. It wasn't our idea." The Suna shinobi nodded her understanding and braced herself.
"Jocelyn," a deep voice remarked behind her. "Some things never change. I see that you're still looking like you just came from a monastery."
"Kiba," she sighed as she turned to face the tattooed man. "Some things never do change, do they? I see that you're still saying everything that comes to your mind like verbal vomit."
"At least I mean what I say when I say it and say it as it is," he bit out.
"I'm sorry," Jocelyn tilted her head to the right quizzically. "Was there a sentence in there? All I heard was more verbal vomit."
A hard look passed between the two jounin and Kiba gritted his teeth in irritation. Akamaru didn't help matters when the large dog padded over to the Suna kunoichi and panted loudly until she rested her hand on his shaggy head. Kiba's hands fisted in his jacket as he watched her fingers unconsciously bury themselves in his dog's soft fur.
I can't believe I'm jealous over my dog, he growled to himself.
There was once a time not so long ago when her fingers were buried in his hair—not his dog's fur.
"What are you doing here, Kiba?" Jocelyn asked.
"Tsunade-sama sent me to get a status report on the prisoner and Akatsuki," he replied. "The others are staying for a while and she wants the information yesterday."
Gaara glanced at his wife in apology and kissed her cheek. "I have to go take care of this," he whispered. "Don't get any thoughts of having another baby while I'm gone."
"But they're so cute!" Kina joked. Although she loved her children, both she and her husband weren't in any hurry to add another child to their family.
"We'll discuss this in my office," Gaara stated. He glared at the two jounin and felt some satisfaction when they lost the angry looks on their faces. "Let's go."
The others watched them leave and Sakura let out a breath when they didn't hear either Kiba or Jocelyn say anything. She took her son from Kina and rested him against her shoulder. The tense atmosphere stayed for a few minutes longer and Naruto finally had to ask what was going on.
"Well?" he questioned the two women. "What's wrong with them? I thought that they were dating?"
"Naruto," Sakura whispered. "They broke up."
"What?" Naruto yelled. "Why? When? They were great together! They have a lot in common and she doesn't mind the dog smell…"
"They broke up a few months ago. You know how Kiba is—when he wants something, he goes and gets it. She wasn't ready and he was crowding her," Kina said. Her heart went out to both of her friends, but her loyalty was to her cousin. "When she told him that, he gave her an ultimatum and then they fought. They both said things that they shouldn't have."
"They seemed happy," Naruto insisted. "Sure they had a long-distance relationship and everything, but they were happy. What exactly happened?"
"He wanted something from her that she couldn't give," Sasuke murmured.
"And what was that?" Naruto demanded.
Sasuke looked at the doorway Jocelyn and Kiba left through. He knew Jocelyn as well as he knew Kina—and as well as he knew himself. They'd adopted each other a while ago and they were family. His foster sisters told him many things over the years and he knew what held the Suna nin back.
"She can't give him her heart."
A/N:
I know I said that I wouldn't update this regularly—and I'm not. It's just that this is on my comp and I have the time to put it up.
Again, just tell me what you think.
