I do not own Naruto.

Through These Eyes

Chapter Two

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After Sakura's birth, Mihana resumed her work with no problems.

Most days, she would find herself in her small flower shop, Sakura strapped to her chest or asleep in the cot she'd moved into the shop, creating bouquets and caring for the flowers while picking up any gossip and news that passed through the village.

Before leaving Konoha, Minato, Shikaku Nara and herself had sketched out a fake identity for her that she would establish when she arrived.

Her cover was Hanako Harada, 23 years old and widowed after her husband died in a bandit attack on their way to visit her brother. Hanako decided she could no longer live in the village her husband called home, so she traveled to Morikawa with the money she got from selling their home. And though living near the edge of the village, opened a small flower shop, hoping as a trading village it would bring in more customers.

Mihana had been extremely thankful to Minato when he returned to her home unannounced with a seal in hand to hide Sakura's eyes not even a week after he left. It was one thing to draw attention by giving birth to a baby with pink hair, and another thing entirely for that baby to have the eyes Sakura had, which practically screamed Kekkei genkai and ninja.

The seal Minato had given her when attached to the body would lay a light genjutsu over the person which would only stop if the seal was removed or ran out of chakra. The amount of chakra used to activate it and keep it running was minuscule enough that only genjutsu specialists, high-level sensors like the Uzumaki or shinobi with doujutsu kekkei genkai, like the Uchiha or Hyuuga, would be able to catch it.

It made Mihana's life much easier and she was hopeful it would also make Sakura's in the future.

She would also occasionally have ANBU teams drop by on their way too, but they were few and in between. Some would crash for a night if needed and they had the time, but most only stopped long enough to be healed then moved on.

A seal in the bunker when activated was connected to a sister-seal on Mihana, which would alert her to their presence and need for healing. And though she hadn't needed to do any major surgeries yet, it helped that they recognized Mihana as one of their former captains that had trained with them and fought beside them in the past.

This left Mihana with lots of time on her hands that she used to set up a small information network in the village and with its surrounding towns, and time to get her body back into shape. It also helped to keep her mind off the past and Hiashi.

Watching Sakura grow and learn often left her feeling sad and regretful that Sakura would never know a father's love and that she could never give Sakura an ideal family life. Though if Mihana had learned anything growing up an orphan in Konoha, just like with her and Minato, bonds can tie people together just as strongly as blood can, and sometimes, even stronger still.

This routine kept up until September when an unexpected face dropped by. She really should have expected it with Kushina-chan's due date approaching, but she was still pleasantly surprised.

"Jiraiya-sensei!" She greeted once they were within the hideout's barrier seal.

"Mihana-chan! You are looking more beautiful than ever!" He exclaimed wiggling his eyebrows lecherously.

Mihana sighed in exasperation but was truthfully happy to see her sensei again. The last time they had seen each other was at the announcement of Minato as Hokage which was prior to Orochimaru's defection. But she was glad to see the Sannin was still the same man she knew as a child.

"And you haven't changed sensei." Jiraiya grinned again before noticing curious green eyes peering up at him from over his former student's shoulder.

"Oh! And who is this cutie? Don't tell me she's yours, Mihana? I thought we had a conversation about safe se-"

"I thought we agreed to never bring that up ever again." Mihana spoke over him, internally cringing. It was the most awkward and embarrassing conversation of her life, and she's sure it was Minato's as well. Though Jiraiya often found it humorous to bring up at inappropriate times.

There was an unspoken agreement between them to never speak about that day.

Ever.

"Well are you going to introduce us?"

Smiling proudly, Mihana undid some of the straps on the baby holder and brought Sakura around to hold on her hip.

"This is my daughter, Sakura Haruno." Lifting Sakura's small hand up, she waved it at Jiraiya and said, "Sakura-chan, say 'hi' to Jiraiya-Oyaji."

Jiraiya scowled at her comment and joked, "See, this is why Minato is my favourite.", but couldn't stop his grin when the pink haired baby smiled shyly up at him and cooed before burying her face in her mother's neck.

She was definitely going to be a heart-breaker. Just like her mother.

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Once Sakura was placed on her stomach and happily dragging herself around on her play mat, Mihana placed some tea on the small table and took a seat opposite her sensei.

"Minato's work?" Jiraiya asked, nodding towards Sakura and Mihana internally sighed.

She really should have known that Jiraiya would pick up on the seal. He may not have been a genjutsu specialist or sensor, but he was by far the best seal master in the shinobi nations who wasn't an Uzumaki.

"Yes, though I think Kushina-chan helped." She replied calmly.

Their team had always been close, and they only grew closer after their third team mate, Hikaru's, death. Even if Minato was his favourite, she knew she could trust Jiraiya with anything, including him not revealing the truth about Sakura's parentage.

But she wasn't going to say anything if he didn't ask.

Hearing her daughter's unintelligible babbling and cooing, Mihana's eyes drifted to her place on the mat, only to see her crawling determinedly towards her. She let a soft smile cross her lips and held her hands out, but Sakura turned at the last minute with a laugh and made her way towards Jiraiya.

Brushed off, Mihana pouted while watching Jiraiya pick her up and begin to make faces at her daughter who giggled cutely for a while before she grabbed a strand of Jiraiya's white mane and started chewing enthusiastically while babbling again.

"Ugh…" The sannin complained and tried to have Sakura release his hair only to have her yank on it and begin laughing again.

"This is why I don't have kids." Jiraiya bemoaned still trying to get Sakura to release her firm grip on his hair.

"So, what's wrong with her? I thought if anything, it would be her pink hair you'd want to conceal."

Mihana put down her tea cup and walked around to pluck Sakura from Jiraiya's lap, then sat down beside him. Pulling Sakura's shirt up, she removed the seal from her back, earning excited squeals and claps from her daughter who practically threw herself at Jiraiya again and began pulling at the clothes at his stomach.

"I've come across plenty of unique doujutsu," He commented thinking about Nagato's Rinnegan and Uchiha Kagami's Mangekyou Sharingan, "But these are a first even for me."

Mihana nodded. "Sakura-chan's father is a Hyuuga."

Jiraiya paused before questioning, "Like the 'stuck-up, stuffy, arrogant' that you used to complain about all the time Hyuuga?"

Sighing again, Mihana could only nod in affirmative.

"Huh. Never thought you liked the 'pretty' type 'Hana-chan." Noticing the angry tick forming on her brow, Jiraiya put his hands up in a placating manner. "Maa, maa, I was just joking."

Mihana huffed, then watched as Jiraiya lifted Sakura who had still been patting his stomach excitedly, so that they were face to face. The baby looked at him curiously, her bright green eyes wide and white pupils unnervingly fixed on him, until she raised her hand and smacked him again and they changed back to pupil-less bright green.

"Evil tyke." Jiraiya muttered handing Sakura back off to her mother and rubbing at his sore nose.

Jiraiya watched the baby curl up in her mother's arms and waited for her to doze off before he asked, "How long has she been able to activate it?"

"A few hours after she was born, she surprised both Minato and I. We were worried at first that she might have been blind, but we also weren't sure if it was something unique to Hyuuga clan children."

"Aa, I've never seen a Hyuuga baby, I just assumed they were born with their eyes…" Jiraiya motioned to his eyes with his hands before shrugging, "ya know?" Mihana just nodded in agreement.

"How often does she activate it?" Jiraiya asked. "I don't mean to worry you, but I'm surprised she doesn't run out of chakra."

"I know, it was a worry of mine too." She said before continuing.

"I usually have the seal on her during the day, and I think she hates having it on because she always whinges and pouts for a good while after we leave home. But I check her over every night just to be sure it's not hurting her."

"And her father?"

"He knows, but the clan doesn't." She paused before adding. "The situation is complicated."

Jiraiya tenses his jaw. "Who else knows?"

"Just you, her father, Minato and Kushina-chan."

Nodding along, Jiraiya suggested, "You should inform the Hyuuga clan head, so he knows in the case of a fall out. He's friends with Minato, isn't he? Don't be afraid to use those sorts of connections."

Mihana tenses up slightly before replying softly with a hint of sadness she couldn't quite cover. "He knows…"

Jiraiya looked at her then and internally winced when the dots in his head connected what she was implying. Just thinking about the political mess his student's child was going to make if she were found out had him cringing.

"Well, good luck!" Jiraiya joked, laughing nervously, to which Mihana joined in, though more hysterical than funny, before a few tears escaped the corner of her eyes.

"Hey, Hey! None of that now! I'm sure everything will work itself out. You've got the Hokage on your side, the red hot-blooded habanero and the legendary Jiraiya! What more could you need huh?"

Mihana wiped the tears from her face and smiled, reassured that when she needed them, her team would be there to support her.

"Anyways, I brought you a gift." Jiraiya says pulling out a novel from his inner pocket. Mihana took it gently and smiled when she saw Jiraiya's name on the spine.

"Minato already has a copy, but I wanted you to have one too. Let me know what you think the next time I see you."

Turning it over, she read the front cover curiously.

The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.

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AN: So originally this was longer, but I wanted to save the next part for the next chapter so its connected better. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. I doubt I'll be able to update anything until July. Exams and stuff ya know. Also, I've pretty much done the next chapter of LWB, but I hate it. So I'm currently tossing up whether to scrap it and start again, or to just post it so I can move on... I'll hopefully decide by friday so you'll know if it gets put up or not...

Harada Hanako (as it would be said in Japanese) translates to plain (Hara) field (da) Flower (Hana) child (Ko). 'Oyaji' translates to old man.

I didn't mention it last chapter either, but the kanji for 'Mihana' translates to 'Beautiful flower'. I wanted to keep the flower theme in the family.