Ibiki had a house all to himself. Sasuke must have figured that he'd be sharing it with a woman soon. He liked the place. It was made of grey stone with simple wood furniture. He liked simplicity.
Ibiki unpacked what was left of his duffel bags. There was a spare bit of clothing, some dried fish, and a medical kit. He ate the fish and sat down on the bed to consider his future. Someone had provided a colorful quilt and yellow curtains, but the rest of the room was bare except for the bed and a dresser. He tried to picture a woman in the room, cleaning or reading. Reading would be nice. He liked intelligent women. He thought about his future children, and he hoped that Kai would be a good wife.
He lay back on the bed and allowed his mind to wander. He'd never really dared to hope for a wife or family. It just didn't make sense. He was Konoha's legally sanctioned killer, a dangerous dog kept around the back yard. No one ever wanted to pet the yard dog.
He checked out the kitchen. There were a few pots and pans, and a couple glasses and dishes. That was ok. She'd been here for awhile, so she'd probably have her own set.
He needed some new clothes. There was no sense meeting Kai in fisherman's gear. He had a bit of money, but it wouldn't be enough. He took a walk around the village, and he saw a man with a clipboard who looked like he knew what he was doing. He had glasses that kept slipping and thinning hair.
"Do you know where I can find out about missions? I'm new here."
The man smiled. "You must be Moreno Ibiki. You're checking in early, aren't you?"
"I want to get to work. It's been too long." He didn't feel like telling him about Kai.
"I'm the mission officer, actually. My name is Ifor Magne. Nice to meet you." Ibiki shook the offered hand.
"Could you tell me what you consider your strong points? I haven't been told much about you except for your physical description and that you're from Konoha. Sasuke-sama's been busy. He hasn't told me much about your group yet."
"I used to specialize in subterfuge. I've been working as Konoha's chief interrogator for years, but I'd really like to get away from that."
Magne nodded. "I understand. We all want something different, or we wouldn't be here. I try not to have ninjas involved in missions against their former villages, if possible. You understand it may be a necessity in the future though, I hope."
"I do. I understand what it means to be a ninja. I appreciate you trying to avoid sending me against them, though. There's one other thing. I've been posing as a fisherman for awhile, and I don't have any decent clothes. Can I requisition a uniform?"
"Of course. You'll need to take this to the store." He wrote something on a piece of paper and signed it. "You get two uniforms and two sets of civilian clothing. The store also doubles as our supply depot for now."
Ibiki headed to the store and collected his clothes. When he was home he surveyed them critically. The uniform wasn't much different than Konoha's, with the exception that it boasted a hitai-ate with the Uchia symbol on it. He never would have imagined he'd sport that symbol. He tried on the clothes. They fit moderately well, but he could alter them later. They'd do for now.
He found out where Kai lived and headed to her house. He was surprised when Sakura answered the door. He was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice she'd been crying. "Is Kai home? Sasuke said she'd like to meet me."
"She's not back from her mission for a couple of days, but you can come in if you like." Again, he missed Sakura's signals.
"No, that's ok. I don't want to see her house until she's here. This is special for me."
He went home and slept soundly that night, with dreams of laughing children.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Kakashi and Gai came to the same conclusion as Ibiki about the necessity for less fish-smelling clothing, and signed up for mission availability. With their house still empty, the place felt more like a dorm to Kakashi than a home, but Gai opened the living room window and looked at their view of the surrounding cliffs. They were in the crater of an extinct volcano, and the view was uninteresting, but Gai stared anyway.
Gai turned and looked at their simple home. "It's not Konoha, but I think I could grow to like this place. Sasuke seems to know what he's doing, and the place looks like it's friendly. I don't want to take a wife anytime soon, though."
"That's more than you've said for days," Kakashi said.
"I've been tied up in the past. I've got to face facts. My youth is gone. There are children here to teach, though. I'd like that. If I can't teach the children of Konoha, at least I can help raise some of these to live and fight honorably."
"That's good to hear," Kakashi said. "I'm glad you found something you can believe in."
"What about you?" Gai asked. "You were so devoted to Konoha."
"Yes, and I doubt I'll ever feel the same about this place. I always felt like I let Sasuke down though, and maybe I can make that up to him now. I still want to help guide Naruto too, and I think Sakura needs us too. She's not taking this well."
Naruto didn't even bother unpacking what meager belongings he had gathered since leaving Konoha. He just put Team Seven's picture on his dresser and set out to meet people. By the time night rolled around he had managed to meet everyone his own age and many of the children and older adults. He managed to get into one argument and make two friends, Sal and Borie. Sal wouldn't say what village he was from, just that he didn't want to talk about his dead past. Borie was from the Rain Village. He'd left because he didn't feel like he could learn his true power surrounded by friends and family. He wanted to test himself in the world.
Shikamaru went to Sasuke and asked where the library was. Sasuke showed him to the books stored carefully in his house. "Everyone is allowed to access these. I have others I only let select people see, but because your main strength is scholarship I'll let you have access. Those are an S-class secret though."
"I'm honored Sasuke-sama," he said. When he saw the massive room filled with priceless dusty volumes he grinned and began to cry. "So many books," he whispered.
"O…k," Sasuke said. "I'll leave you here. Lock up when you leave, and don't get any happy tears on the books, ok?"
That night Sakura lay on her bed, miserable and unable to sleep. All she could think of was the friends she'd left. Was Ino ok, and what about Sai? She even missed Tsunade – the woman she had loved, not the monster she'd become.
She wanted to be with someone she knew. Knowing Naruto and Shikamaru, Naruto would probably be doing something social, and Shikamaru would probably be thinking or reading. She headed toward Gai and Kakashi's house.
When she knocked on the door, she heard a tentative, "who is it?" from Kakashi.
"Just me," she said.
He opened the door and let her in. He glanced around the street suspiciously and closed the door.
"What was that about?" she asked.
"I'm trying to avoid the women in this place. I took a walk earlier, just to see the place. I got three marriage proposals. One chick from the Sand Village actually started giving me her pedigree!"
"I guess you're prime man-bait," Sakura said with a smile.
"Not funny. I'm trying to avoid this marriage thing for as long as possible. I know it's an order, but I'm going to put it off until I find someone who wants a baby without tying me down. There's got to be a couple women that just want a baby, maybe a lesbian or something.
Sakura noticed a full collection of the Icha Icha novels on his bookshelf. "At least you haven't changed. I was starting to think all my friends were bonkers." She picked up volume one and thumbed through it. "Where did you get these?"
"They were a gift from Sasuke. They're signed."
"Nice," she said and put the book back on the shelf. "Do you like it here? Don't you miss the old life?"
"Sure, but that will pass. This isn't a bad place, and there's a freedom here I've been missing. If I can get this marriage obsession handled, I might grow to like this place. I think I'm going to have to wait for a mission outside the village to get in a good casual screw."
Sakura opened her mouth to offer, but thought better of it. Sure he was an attractive man, but he was her Sensei, and that would be too weird. A casual screw wasn't a bad idea, though. She wondered if that was exactly what she needed. She'd never slept with someone just to have sex, but it would be nice to be that close to anyone right now.
She didn't want to return to her empty house, so she made her way to Naruto and Shikamaru's place. They hadn't done anything with it, of course, but Shikamaru was sitting at the kitchen table happily working his way through a pile of books.
"What is all this?" she asked.
"Sasuke has a huge library. This is all publically accessible. You wouldn't believe some of the things I found there. Remember that forbidden scroll Naruto stole? A copy of it is right here. We couldn't even read it in Konoha, and here everyone can learn these jutsus. I love this place! I haven't even gotten to the restricted section yet."
He finally looked up and saw Sakura's face. "You've been crying. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm just out of sorts."
He stood up and moved her hair away from her eyes so he could see them better. "No, your face is swollen. You've been crying for awhile."
On impulse she hugged him. He held her for a few minutes, stroking her hair. "You miss Konoha?" he asked.
"I'm so lonely," she said.
"Everyone but Naruto and Ibiki are lonely. I think it will get better with time."
She looked up into his serious dark eyes. "I'm lonely now," she whispered. "I don't want to be alone tonight."
"I understand," he said, and kissed her. His house was so new the bedroom still smelled like fresh cut wood. Shikamaru was an awkward and inexperienced lover, but Sakura didn't mind; she hadn't had much experience herself. The sex wasn't great, but when they finished and Shikamaru fell asleep, Sakura felt better than she had in months. She held him and enjoyed being with a friend.
When he woke up she was gone. He wondered if he had dreamed the whole night until he found a pink hair ribbon by his bed. He put them on his dresser and promptly forgot the whole episode as he dug happily into his studies.
Sakura didn't forget though. She hoped she hadn't made a mistake. She made her way around the village, meeting people and finding the mission officer. Every time she met a man in the village she remembered Sasuke saying they'd all wanted to marry her, and she was embarrassed.
Ibiki met Kai that night. He liked her immediately. She was petite, with dark hair and a figure on the thin side. She blushed through their entire conversation. He noticed with satisfaction that she had four bookshelves in her living room filled to overflowing with all types of books, and a coffee table filled with scholarly books and notepads. He left feeling very good about the visit. When he got home he indulged in fantasies of a happy home again.
A couple nights later, Sakura found herself in Shikamaru's arms again. There were no promises between them, just two lonely people finding comfort in each other. Sakura didn't really want more at the moment. She wasn't ready for a relationship anyway.
They all settled into a new life. Ibiki and Kai were seen together every time they weren't on missions, Gai actually began to smile, and Naruto was making friends left and right.
Everyone loved Naruto. One day Sakura was at his house chatting with Shikamaru, and Naruto came home with his face painted like a fox. They laughed at him, and Shikamaru asked, "what happened? You look ridiculous."
"I know. I was over at Sasuke's, and I started playing with some of his kids. A couple of the girls saw the whisker marks and thought this would be funny. I don't know what they used, but it isn't washing off. Sasuke laughed for an hour about this."
"I'm sorry," Sakura said. "Did anyone give you any problems?"
"No. This doesn't mean anything here. I could run around in a fuzzy fox suit and the worst that would happen is people would laugh at me. No one's afraid of me here, even though most of them know about the Kyubi. I even had a couple women tell me they thought the whiskers are sexy."
"They are," Shikamaru said. "I can barely contain myself."
"Gross," Naruto said. "I'm gonna go see if I can get this off."
"I'm glad he's happy," Sakura said.
"Are you?" Shikamaru asked.
"I don't know. I think I will be, in time. I'll probably find someone to marry, have some kids. Then I'll be happy, I think."
"Um, you do know I'm not the marrying type, right? I mean, I'll have too eventually, but I don't want to until Sasuke pushes the issue."
"I know. Don't take this the wrong way, but I wasn't thinking of you. I'm comfortable with what we have. The whole friends with benefits thing works for me. I'll probably get with one of the village men eventually."
The women quit bothering Kakashi openly once they found out he wasn't interested, but he noticed that most of his missions were with female teammates. He suspected Sasuke was trying to set him up to get the Hatake white chakra added to the village's gene pool. Sasuke had become absolutely obsessed with new blood in the village. Kakashi guessed Sasuke was the type to obsess over something, and at least he was focused on something useful.
Things progressed smoothly for a few weeks, and then Sakura's life skidded to a halt again. She sat on a bench in the small but well kept park weighing her options. She desperately needed someone to talk to. She'd never made friends easily, and she hadn't made any in the village yet, just a few acquaintances with Kunoichis and a couple of Sasuke's wives. Ibiki, Gai, and Shikamaru were out of the question, and Kakashi was on a mission for the week. That only left Naruto. She hoped he would be a good shoulder to lean on.
She knocked on the door, hoping Shikamaru wouldn't answer. Naruto did, and said, "what's wrong? You don't look well."
"Can we talk? I got some disturbing news today, and I need someone to talk to."
"Sure, come on in."
They sat down and Naruto made tea. "Come on and tell ni-san all about it," he joked.
She decided to get right to the point. "I'm not sure how I feel about this yet, but I was late."
"I don't get it," he said. "If you're late why are you talking to me? Shouldn't you be going?
She took a deep breath. Of course he was too dense for that explanation. She was starting to wish she'd waited for Kakashi to get home. "I took a test. I'm pregnant."
His eyes widened. "Ohhh," he said. "whose is it?"
"Shikamaru's. I haven't told him yet. I'm ok with raising the baby alone, but I'm afraid of how he's going to take this."
"There's only one way to find out," Naruto said.
"I know. I'm just nervous. I like the idea of having a baby; I just hope she can know her father."
"How do you know it's a girl?" Naruto asked.
She smiled. "I just hope so."
Shikamaru came in with a new pile of books. He set them on the table and went right to work. "Hey," Sakura said. "I need to talk to you."
"Sure," Shikamaru said. "I can't talk long though. I have a mission coming up I need to prepare for."
"I need to go do…something," Naruto said, and left.
An awkward silence followed. "Well?" Shikamaru asked.
"I'm pregnant," she said.
"Woah," he said. "Oh shit."
"I was afraid you'd feel that way. I don't expect us to stay together, but I hope you'll be in the baby's life."
"I don't know," he said. "I'm so not ready for this. Look, I'm sorry but I have to go for a walk. Have you told anyone about this?"
"Just Naruto."
"Ok, let's keep this between us for now until I have time to think this over."
"Sure, and I hope we can still be friends, at least."
The look he gave her suggested otherwise.
Sakura was confused as well. Sure, they hadn't been much more than friends, but now that she was about to lose him she realized how much she'd miss him. When she got home Kai and Ibiki were there, talking on the couch and completely lost in each other's company.
"Hi Sakura," Kai said. She bounced over to Sakura and hugged her. "Look," she said, and held up her hand. Sakura saw a thin gold band with a small diamond on her finger. Kai was blushing furiously.
"Congratulations," Sakura said, and then she burst out crying and ran to her room. She fell on her bed and sobbed into the pillow, missing all the things she wouldn't know now. She heard Ibiki leave, and felt Kai sit on the bed. She rubbed Sakura's back.
"You want to talk about it?" she asked.
"I'll never have that," Sakura said. "I'll never get married now."
"Don't be silly. You're young. There are plenty of guys here that want you."
"I know. I've been asked out more times than I can count. It's too late now though."
"Why? What's suddenly made things so dramatic?"
"I can't say right now," Sakura said.
"Ok, when you want to talk more, I'll be here. I'm going to make dinner. It would be good if you ate some, ok?"
"Ok," Sakura said.
She lay in bed thinking. She heard a knock at the door and assumed Ibiki had come back, but she heard Sasuke's voice. "Is Sakura home?" he asked.
"She's here, Sasuke-sama. I'll get her."
She came into Sakura's room. "Get cleaned up. Sasuke-sama's asking for you. It's an honor for him to visit someone's house."
Sakura wiped away the tears, but she knew it was obvious she'd been crying. When she came in the living room Sasuke gave her a bouquet. "Congratulations!" he said. "The hospital always lets me know when someone's pregnant. Who's the lucky father?"
Kai's jaw dropped. "You're pregnant? Why didn't you tell me?"
"He's not sure how he feels about this. He asked me to keep it a secret for now."
Sasuke's face fell, and killing intent began to roll off him. "He what?" Sasuke asked. Kai quickly left the house. "That's a sorry thing to do."
"It's not that bad. We didn't have any kind of agreement. We were both lonely, and things sort of happened. I'm ok with being a single mother."
"It's a low man who doesn't want to be his own child's father," Sasuke said. "If he won't help you, you know my offer still stands. Several of my children are from previous relationships, and they have equal status with my natural born children."
"Thank you Sasuke. I'll consider that."
"If that baby ends up with spiky yellow or silver hair I'm going to beat someone."
"Sasuke! That's horrible," she said. "I made my choice and it's my business."
"Of course," he said. "Forget I said anything. If you need any help, let me know. I'm happy for you though. You'll make a great mother."
Kai came back in after Sasuke left. "Wow, he was really mad. What did he say?"
"He offered to marry me if the father doesn't want to come forward."
"That's awesome. His wives have so much power in the village. You'd have the best of everything."
"I'm going to consider it. If I can get a decent father for the baby I'll be happy."
"You don't want to marry him though, do you?" Kai asked.
"We have a history. I don't feel that way about him anymore."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Naruto came by later. "How'd Shikamaru take it?" he asked. "Neither of you came back, so I thought I'd find you."
"You're a good friend," she said. "He didn't take it well. He said he wasn't ready for this and left. He asked me not to tell anyone."
"I think I'm going home and beat some sense into that pineapple head of his. He's usually so smart, too."
"Let it be," she said. "We didn't really have a relationship. We just hooked up, you know? I don't want to be with him. I just want him to be part of the baby's life."
Naruto sat there quietly for a few minutes. Sakura noticed that the silence between them was comfortable. He got down on one knee. "Sakura, I don't have a ring yet, but will you marry me? I'll help you raise the baby."
Sakura was shocked. "Just when I think I have you figured out, you surprise me."
"Well?" he asked.
"I'll have to think about it. This is too sudden."
"Alright, but can I at least be the godfather?"
"Of course you can. You're the best friend I ever had."
Whenever she went to Shikamaru's house he was always about to leave. She understood he was avoiding her, and she quit coming by to see him. She still visited Naruto, but she and Shikamaru barely talked other than to exchange pleasantries. He had a panicked look when he saw her. She decided to let him go. They would work something out eventually, she was sure.
When she told Kakashi he immediately said, "it's Shikamaru's, isn't it?"
"How did you know?" she asked.
"Ibiki's with someone, Gai couldn't be your type, we haven't been together, and if it was Naruto he'd be shouting it from the rooftops."
"It could have been someone else," she said.
"It could, but that doesn't seem like your style. What are you going to do?"
"I'm still deciding. I've had two marriage offers, and I'm considering one of them."
"Really, who?"
"Sasuke and Naruto. They both offered as soon as they found out."
"So you're thinking about marrying Sasuke? I thought you were over him."
She took a deep breath. "Actually, I'm thinking about marrying Naruto."
A silver eyebrow lifted. "Noni?"
"He'd be a good father, and I want my baby to have a father if possible. Sasuke's only barely serious. I think he's more interested in future Uchias I could make than he is interested in me. Naruto's dead serious though. If I marry Sasuke I'll start a war between those two. Naruto's too protective of me. If I marry Naruto, Sasuke will probably be happy for us."
"I'd be honored to be the child's Sensei," Kakashi said.
"I'd like that," Sakura said. She was glad he hadn't offered to marry her.
The pregnancy progressed normally. At three months she was showing, and Sasuke's wives fussed over her like they'd never seen a pregnant woman, probably at least partly at Sasuke's direction. Shikamaru warmed up to her as he saw she wasn't going to tie him down, but she had no more interest in his body.
Naruto waited on her hand and foot. He talked to the baby, brought Sakura whatever she was craving, and traveled to other villages to find books on pregnancy.
"Is it his?" Kai asked her one day after Naruto brought Sakura a can of lychee fruit she'd been craving.
"No, but he wants it to be. He offered to marry me."
"He's pretty awesome. I'd take him up on that."
"I'm seriously thinking about it," she said.
Kakashi, Gai and Naruto were constants in her life, so when Kakashi brought Naruto back a week later seriously injured, she felt like the bottom was dropping out of her world.
"What happened?" she asked as he was prepped for surgery.
"ANBU found us. Apparently Tsunade has been looking for us after all. There were ten of them, and they were wearing us down. He pulled out seven tails. I don't know how he can recover from this one."
She worked on him frantically and managed to save his life. He had massive burns and chakra poisoning from the fox's demonic chakra.
When he woke up she was by his bed, waiting. She'd been sitting there off and on for a week.
"Sakura? What happened?"
"ANBU. You pulled out seven tails."
"I don't remember anything after Kakashi went down. Is he ok?"
"Minor injuries. He's fine. I wanted to be here when you woke up."
"I'm glad. How's little Sakura?"
"She's fine. I just wanted to tell you yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes, I'll marry you." She kissed him on the forehead, one of the few spots not covered in bandages.
He grinned. "This is the best day of my life. Believe it!"
She laughed. "Don't get too excited. You need rest."
She told Kakashi first. "Congratulations or condolences," he said.
"Very funny."
"Have you told Shikamaru yet?" he asked.
"I'm heading over there now. I think he'll be happy. He's off the hook now. We can probably be friends again."
Shikamaru was happy, and when she told Gai he cried and started talking about the power of youth to overcome obstacles. Ibiki hugged her and wished her well, and Kai prattled on about wedding arrangements. It was a good time for her, and when Naruto got out of the hospital he gave her a ring of white gold and a picture of a cherry tree with a fox sleeping under it.
Sasuke insisted on paying for the wedding. It was large for such a small village, and Sakura was thrilled. Kakashi gave her away, and Shikamaru attended. It was perfect.
When the baby was born, she was surprised to see Shikamaru there with a bouquet.
"So you're the one," Sasuke said to Shikamaru as they stood at the nursery window with Naruto.
"Hai. She's beautiful, isn't she?" Shikamaru said.
"She is. I see the future of the village when I look into this room. You sure took your time about claiming her as your own."
He looked at Naruto, who was too busy making silly faces at the baby to notice. "I'm just the donor. Naruto's going to be her real father. I'll be involved, but I'm just not the fatherly type, you know."
"I can accept that. You gave us one, so you've fulfilled your obligation. Next time use birth control if you're not willing to be the parent though, ok? I want as little drama as possible."
Shikamaru pulled out his wallet and flipped it open to show Sasuke a condom. "Way ahead of you," he said.