A/N : So, I'm leaving the previous Author Notes from before and just going to say my quick rambles on top. I'm probably going to be redoing two chapters a day because it isn't a lot besides a few things here and there like I said before.
Wow, I'm so glad that so many people are enjoying my story! Thanks to all that favorite, followed, etc. I love the reviews, and I listen to what you guys say and try to incorporate it into my writing. To those who reviewed, I would like to thank: NeoJubiSannin1870, ZeroTails317, XxAshishxX, duron300, and all the guest who reviewed. I tried to make this chapter a little bit longer, and I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own
Chapter 2
.
.
.
.
.
Tsunade sat behind her desk watching anxiously as the door to her office slowly crept open. The first thing she spotted was the Kazekage's auburn hair as he entered first, followed by blurs of orange and pink, and instantly the Hokage's face filled with delight. Tsunade could not process her thoughts correctly as she stared at the three in front of her, overwhelmed with joy.
Sakura couldn't help but smile at Tsunade's reaction; she could not remember another moment in time where Tsunade was at a loss for words like she was now. The young mother picked up her child and maneuvered around the desk to stand next to her sensei, who stared up at Sakura dumb-founded.
"Shishou this is Natsumi. Natsumi this is your grandmother." Sakura introduced the two, gently bouncing Natsumi in her arms.
Tsunade stared at Sakura for a moment, surprised to hear the term "grandmother" used to describe herself. Sakura, on the other hand, felt it was only right if her child called Tsunade "grandma" since the woman was like a second mother to her. She taught her all the things her parents could not, and made it her job to watch over the pinkette after her parents passed away. The bond they shared was truly something unbreakable.
"Baa-chan!" Natsumi squealed enthusiastically as she extended her arms towards the elder blonde without any hesitation or fear.
Tsunade had a wide smile on her face as she took the child from Sakura's arms. "And how old are you, Natsumi?" She asked, finally being able to get out her words.
"I'm five!" Natsumi answered as held up five fingers for her grandmother to see.
"Wow!" Tsunade exclaimed. "You're a big girl! When are you turning six?"
"Ugh..." Natsumi paused, taping her chin, trying to remember the date her mother told her. "Oh! August 26!"
Tsunade chuckled softly at the young. "Isn't that in a few weeks?"
"Mhmm!" Natsumi nodded.
"Well, I guess we are going to have to throw a big party! Would you like that?" Tsunade asked as Natsumi's face beamed with delight.
The five-year old nodded her head excitedly causing Tsunade to laugh. Sakura smiled as she watched the two talk as if they had met before. The young Kazekage stood behind the pinkette, resting a hand on her shoulder as he watched silently with a smile on his face also.
"Mommy? Ra?" Natsumi called as she turned to look at the two. "I'm hungry." She whined.
Gaara let out a soft laugh as he moved to scoop the small girl from Tsunade's arms. "I'll take her to get something to eat while you two catch up." Gaara offered.
Sakura nodded towards the man, allowing him to take her child without protesting.
"I'll be back in a few." Gaara told the women as he opened the door to leave. "Say bye, Sumi."
"Bye Mom! Bye Baa-chan!" Natsumi called before the door shut closed, leaving Tsunade and Sakura alone in the room.
The two remained quiet for a few moments before Tsunade opened her mouth to break the peaceful silence. "Sakura, she's beautiful..." she breathed out, a small smile on her face.
Sakura gave her sensei a toothy grin as she made herself comfortable by sitting on the desk, facing Tsunade. "Thank you, Shishou. She's a handful though, she has too much energy for me at times."
"She looks just like you," Tsunade said as she laid back in her chair, "the only difference is the hair."
"Shizune said the same thing." Sakura laughed.
"How did she manage to have the bright orange color?" Tsunade asked. "Is it from the father?"
"I have no idea." Sakura shrugged.
Tsunade stared at Sakura with a look of curiosity as she opened her mouth to ask the question that remained in her head since earlier in the day. "Who is the father, Sakura?" she asked.
"I honestly don't know, Shishou. It was a one night stand, and I never talked to the guy after it; it's like he disappeared or something." Sakura lied, knowing exactly who Natsumi's father was and where she could find him.
Tsunade gave the pinkette a pointed look, not believing a word of what she just said. Tsunade knew Sakura too well, she could tell whether the girl was lying or not by a single glance. Tsunade also saw someone else when she looked at Natsumi. Even though the child looked remarkably similar to her mother there was some features that Tsunade saw that reminded her someone else, but the problem was that she couldn't figure out who though.
"Sakura." Tsunade said sternly. "Who is the father?"
Sakura stared at her hands, which were folded on her lap, contemplating on whether or not to tell the truth. She took a deep breath and looked up at Tsunade who was waiting patiently for the girl to answer her question.
"It's Naruto," she confessed. "Naruto is Natsumi's father."
Tsunade remained silent for several moments, her eyes squinted, as she tried to recall how the relationship between the two were years ago. Suddenly, Tsunade's eyes widened as she realized something extremely important that was happening around the time Sakura left Konoha. "Naruto and Hinata were engaged..." She said softly.
Sakura looked away from her sensei's stare as feelings of guilt and regret flooded through her. She didn't want to relive what she did, but it happened and she couldn't go back in time to change what she did. Even if Sakura had the opportunity to go back to fix her wrong doing she wouldn't. Regardless of all the bad that could be seen in the situation Natsumi managed to come from it, and Sakura could never be thankful enough for being blessed with her child.
"That's why you left... you were pregnant with his chi-"
"I didn't know I was pregnant when I decided to leave." Sakura interrupted, making sure Tsunade knew exactly what happened. "I couldn't face everyone after what I did, especially not Hinata, so I left. A couple weeks after I arrived at Suna was then that I realized I was pregnant with Naruto's child..."
Sakura looked up at Tsunade with sad eyes as she continued on with her story. "I couldn't come back, Shishou... I couldn't return back to Konoha and force this child on Naruto and Hinata's marriage. I couldn't bring myself to do it... I was terrified..."
"Of what, Sakura?"
"Of what everyone was going to say... I was scared of how I- how my child was going to be treated because of something foolish I did. I just couldn't bring myself to return home, Shishou. I was a coward..."
Tsunade sighed as she stood up to embrace the pinkette in a hug. Sakura was shocked at the initial contact but hugged the blonde back nonetheless. She burrowed her head into her sensei's shoulder and released a shaky breath.
"It's okay, Sakura." Tsunade said softly . "I understand it's scary to face the consequences of something you did wrong-especially this severe-but running away from them does not make anything any better."
Sakura took a deep breath and let go of Tsunade, now face-to-face with the blonde. Tsunade looked into Sakura's emerald eyes, not angry or disappointed in the girl, but with a look of understanding-a look that a mother would give her child. Tsunade knew that all Sakura needed was a small push in the right direction, scolding or yelling at the girl would be pointless especially since she could simply see that the pinkette felt guilty enough about what she did by just looking at her when she spoke about it.
"You know what's the right thing to do..." Tsunade said softly to the girl. "You have to tell him, Sakura. It's already been so long."
Sakura took a deep breath as she jumped down from the desk. "I don't know if I can, Shishou. I know it's right but it's too late..."
"It's never too late, Sakura." Tsunade said, her eyes narrowed at the girl. "You cannot keep something like this from him forever."
Sakura remained silent for a few moments before opening her mouth again. "But, Shishou-"
"Sakura, there are no buts in this situation, and I hope you understand that."
Sakura nodded in response to Tsunade; and, after waiting in another quiet moment, she left without speaking another word. She knew telling Naruto- -and Hinata-was the right thing to do, but she wasn't sure if she could actually do it when the moment presented itself; and, it was clear that the elder blonde was not going to hear that one.
She sighed a loud as she proceeded to leave the building, giving Shizune only a slight wave on the way out. Sakura was going to have think thoroughly about the situation and what she wanted to do, but at the current moment the only person she wanted to be with was her daughter. Sakura knew there was a couple places the Kazekage and the girl could have gone, but Sakura knew her daughter well enough to know exactly where to go to find the duo.
.
.
.
.
.
Temari and Kankuro sat at Ichiraku's for lunch trying to decide on what flavor ramen they wanted to have. Originally, their plan was to wait for Gaara and Sakura to return so they could all eat together, but they couldn't wait any longer as the minutes of sitting and waiting turned into hours. They both agreed to go out into the village to get something to eat and Ichiraku's was the first place they came across.
Kankuro squinted his eyes at the menu. "I think I'll just have something simple; I'll take a bowl of miso ramen." He decided as he put down the menu and folded his hands behind his head, relaxing back into the chair he was in.
"I'll get the same thing." Temari said to young waitress in front of them, handing her the menus that was given to the siblings a few moments ago.
"Ayame, I'll have the same thing too!" The loud blond yelled as he entered the small restaurant, taking a seat next to the two sand siblings.
"Are you sure that's all Naruto?" The brunette asked, slightly surprised.
The young man gave the woman one of his famous grins. "For right now, yeah!" He said with a laugh as Ayame made her way back into the kitchen.
"Oi, Naruto!" Kankuro said excitedly as he moved to embrace the blond next to him. "It's been a while since we were last here, eh?"
"Yeah, I didn't know you guys where coming to Konoha. Baa-chan doesn't tell me anything anymore!" He whined playfully as he gave Temari a hug also.
Temari studied the blond in front of her, noticing how much he changed over a couple years. "Well, it looks like someone's all grown up now, huh?" She said joking as she playfully scratched the stubble on his chin.
"I'm not a little kid anymore, Temari." Naruto said proudly with a grin on his face.
Ayame emerged from the kitchen with the bowls in her hands and placed them in front of her three customers. "Enjoy!" She said cheerfully while turning on her heels and heading back into the kitchen where she came from.
"So, why did you guys decide to come back to Konoha after so long?" Naruto asked curiously, breaking apart his chopsticks and diving into his food without any hesitation.
"Gaara had to meet with your Hokage to discuss some things about the alliance." Temari answered the blond as she began to blow on the steaming noodles caught in between her chopsticks.
"How long are you staying for?"
"A couple weeks." Temari answered as she began to eat her food.
"And where is Gaara? You said he was here to meet with Baa-chan, right?" He asked, raising his head towards the siblings.
Kankuro swallowed the food in his mouth before answering Naruto's question. "He went to check in with Tsunade-him and Sakura."
Naruto's excited expression suddenly changed to a more serious one at just the mention of the pinkette's name. "Oh, she's back too?" He asked, his voice not as cheerful as it was moments ago.
"Wow, Naruto," Temari said, "I thought you were head over heels for that girl? What happened?" She raised her eyebrow at the blond, waiting for an answer from him.
"I don't know." Naruto lied with a shrug, keeping the same serious look as before. "I guess I grew up."
Kankuro and Temari exchanged looks, both understanding that there was more than what the young man was saying. Naruto pushed his now empty bowl away from him and began to pull out his wallet.
"I'll see you guys later..." He said softly as he placed the right amount of money on the table and turned to leave without saying another word, only offering a slight wave as he left the establishment.
Temari watched the sad man's retreating figure until he was no longer in her sight. "What was all that about?" She asked as she turned back to her food.
"I don't know," Kankuro said with a mouth full of noodles. "It probably has something to do with Sakura leaving for six years without saying anything."
"It can't be just that... something must've happened between those two." Temari concurred, pointing her chopsticks at her brother.
Kankuro gave his sister a pointed look. "Don't do it, Temari." He warned.
"Do what?" She asked, pretending to not know what he was currently talking about.
"You know what," he said sharply. "If it was something Sakura wanted us to know about she would've told us by now, don't go around trying to solve some mystery that has nothing to do with us. Just let them be."
"Whatever, Kankuro," she said with a sigh, "I wasn't even planning to do anything like that."
"Good. I'm sure whatever is going on between those two will be solved now that Sakura is back, just let them work this out on their own. It's probably nothing serious anyway." Kankuro said, slurping the rest of the soup from the bowl.
Temari sent her brother a small glare as she finished her bowl of ramen also. She had a gut feeling there was something Sakura was hiding from them, and-whether Kankuro liked it or not-Temari was determined to find out what was really going on.
.
.
.
.
.
Gaara sat on a bench watching Natsumi as she played in the sandbox with a young, brown-haired boy she just met. He wasn't sure on how she did, but the young, clever Haruno managed to talk the Kazekage into taking her to the park located next the Academy. They had passed the park on their way to find something to eat, and the young girl did not stop talking about it throughout their lunch. Eventually, he found himself agreeing to her request to play-like always-and took the small girl to the park she saw.
Gaara noticed a blur of pink hair enter the park, and turned to see Sakura coming in his direction. "How did you know?" He asked as she neared closer.
"I know my child like the back of my hand." Sakura laughed, taking a seat next to Gaara on the bench.
The Kazekage glanced over the pinkette for a moment and almost immediately noticed how red her eyes were, which he assumed was from crying recently. "You told her?"
"I had to," she said, running a hand through the ends of her hair, "I can't lie to her."
"What did she say?" Gaara asked, looking at the pinkette who had her eyes focused on her child.
"Basically the same thing you've been saying." Sakura said with a slight laugh.
"I see." Gaara said with a small grin as he turned to look at Natsumi once again.
Sakura let out an audible sigh and rested her head against Gaara's shoulder. "...I just don't know though..."
"If you can't find a reason to do it for yourself, or Naruto, at least do it for Sumi..." Gaara said as he watched the little girl in the sandbox. "I think she would love to meet her father."
The young girl of which they were talking about turned towards them and waved excitedly, a big grin on her face. She then turned back to the boy in front of her, continuing their conversation.
"...my mom lived here once, way before I was born." Natsumi said as she packed the sand into the small bucket.
"Oh," the young boy said timidly, watching Natsumi play.
"You never told me your name!" She said suddenly.
"My name?" He repeated softly.
"Yeah!" Natsumi exclaimed, dumping the sand out of the bucket. "Mine is Haruno Natsumi! What's yours?"
"Kai..." the boy answered, barely loud enough for her to hear.
Natsumi gave the boy a look, waiting for him to finish giving her his full name.
"Inuzuka Kai."
