Tsunades eyes are dangerously narrow. "How dare you claim to be Naruto?" He voice is too calm to be as emotionless as it seems. Naru sighs. "I'm not claiming to be anything. I am Naruto. How else would I know so much about myself?" A frown mars the older blonds face. "You could be an enemy who has spent the last few years with the gaki in interrogation." "Then why would I bring an eight year old with me?" She asks the suspicious Hokage. "She could be a decoy to throw us off you."
Naru glances back at Ryou. "I'm going to put you down now ok?" She asks. The girl nods and sets her feet on the ground. She stands beside her mother but keeps one hand safely attached to her light traveling jacket. Her mother moves her hands to the zipper of the jacket but pauses when most of the shinobi tense. "Relax. I'm just taking off my disguise." She tells them.
She unzips the jacket and pulls it off revealing an astonishing amount of bright orange. She has on standard black ninja sandals that reach the tops of her caves and black shorts that end at the lower part of her thighs. An orange tank top is covered by an old-fashioned black kimono top. It's only attached at the neck, leaving most of her front covered in just the tank top. The back, however, reaches the middle of her back and has the Uzumaki clan symbol surrounded by nine red dots. The sleeves are also unusual. Both of them have red and orange flame designs decorating the edges.
She reaches for the kunai pouch on her waist and ignores the other ninja as they reach for their weapons and pulls out her contact case. She takes the contacts out and puts them away. She then swaps the case for a rag and wipes the makeup off of her cheeks. She shoves it back into her pouch and closes it.
Ryous sharingan finally melts away as she can once again see her mothers trademark features. "Nobody panic." Says Naru with her hands in the air. "I have to use a little bit of my chakra to deactivate the hair dye. If you don't believe me get Neji and Hinata to watch me." Tsunade nods. "You heard the girl." The lavender eyed male from earlier and a female with similar features step forward and activate their own eyes.
Naru keeps her hands in the air and sends small waves of chakra through her roots. The black quickly disappears and the shining blond is once again visible. She pulls a pony tail holder off her wrist and deftly braids it so that the wind no longer plays with the now golden strands. "Is this proof enough or do you really need to see more?"
Tsunade and the others still don't seem convinced. "This does not prove anything for sure." The blond sighs. She reaches down and hooks her fingers under her shirt and pulls it up slowly, revealing her tanned stomach. She pumps a tiny bit of chakra into the area and a black mark wavers into existence. Ryou looks at it in awe. 'It's so pretty.' She thinks.
The small girl uses the hand that is not attached to her mothers clothes and gently traces it. Tsunade breaks off from the assembled ninja and approaches with hesitant steps. The shinobi protest but she ignores them. Her hands glow green and she reaches for Narus mark. Ryou backs away from the woman and clings desperately to her mom.
The older blonds fingers prod the mark on Narus stomach and the younger fidgets slightly and bites her lip. "Stop moving." Orders Tsunade. Naru squeezes her eyes shut and bites her lip harder. Tsunde touches another spot on Narus stomach and the younger visibly flinches. The older blond glares at her. "I told you not to move." The younger glares right back. "I tried not to move! You know that I'm ticklish there!"
The Hokage seems to finally accept the truth of Narus words. "You are late." Narus eyes soften and she allows her shirt to fall back into place. " I had a promise to keep, and I never go back on my word." She looks down at Ryou and gently tugs on her hand. "This is my daughter Ryou. Ryou this is baa-chan." Ryou is fascinated by the woman. She seems to have more strength than what she shows. "Hi." She says shyly. The womans eyes look over the girl and she smiles. "Hello." She answers. Her joy and pride towards the younger female is thick. She had been afraid that she had lost her gaki forever, only to have her turn up with her daughter. Today was a good day.
"I still have to do a DNA test." Says Tsunade. "I just need to confirm that you two are who you say you are." Naru nods. "Understandable." Tsunade turns around. "I need Shikamaru, Neji, Akamaru and Kiba to stay. The rest of you are not to say a word about this. I will let everyone know when it is acceptable to discuss this sometime after the DNA tests come in. Dismissed." The other ninja disappear leaving the three that had been called out.
Naru walks over to Akamaru and kneels so that she is eye to eye to him "I'm sorry for threatening you like that. I had planned to keep this quiet for a little while longer, but that nose of yours caught me. She gently pats him on the head he licks her hand and pants happily. Ryou watches but stays firmly attached to her mother. Naru grabs the girls hand and pulls her around to stand in front of the white dog. "Do you want to pet him too?" The little girl nods. "Then you have to ask both Kiba and Akamaru if you can because he is a ninja dog. The same goes for summons and other animals that work with ninjas." The little girl nods solemnly. "Can I pet your dog?" She asks a wide eyed Kiba. He nods and she turns her attention to the dog. "Can I pet you?" The dog nods and wags his tail.
She begins scratching him behind his left ear and giggles when he leans into it. "Mama, he acts like Kurama!" Naru winces when she hears said demon growl. She feels him use a fraction of their shared chakra to create a shadow clone. A long, red haired man poofs into existence and the gathered ninja all seem slightly taken aback at his sudden appearance.
Ryou grins happily and jumps into his arms. The red-head catches her and growls playfully at her. "I do not act like that." He tells her sternly. The little girl frowns. She reaches up with one small hand and starts rubbing his ear. A startled look crosses his face for a brief moment before he leans into it with a look of pure bliss on his features. The little girl laughs and scratches harder. A deep rumbling escapes his chest and Naru laughs. "You're right Kyuu. You react more like a house cat than Akamaru ever has."
The little girl stops scratching his ears and he immediately turns his black eyes to her. "As I recall, you react the same way." The girl blushes a bright red. "Only when I turn into a fox!" The man grins. "Don't you dare." Says Naru sternly. The man gives Ryou to Tsunade. "Keep an eye on her." Naru glares at the man. "I said no." The grin only grows more evil. "I say yes."
The two of them lunge and start in a battle of taijutsu. Kurama has the upper hand and Naru knows it. She had let her training slip a bit while she was raising Ryou because she had been trying to keep a low profile. Ryou struggles out of a startled Tsunades arms and lands gracefully on her feet. She calmly walks to the two fighting ninja and waits for them to notice her silent presence. "Both of you act more like a child than I do."
The two of them glare playfully at her. The small girl yelps and runs back to Tsunade. The two ninja catch her before she can reach the older blond and mercilessly tickle her. "I give up!" She gasps between giggles. "You win!" Kurama nods, and disappears in a puff of white smoke. Naru throws her arms around the girl and holds her on her lap. "What do I get since I win?" The smaller of the two grins in the same way her mother just had.
She reaches up and scratches behind her mothers ear just like she had done with the Kyuubi. "I won't spill your secret." Narus eyes widen before she leans into the girls touch slightly. "Deal." She purrs. The little girl removes her hand and Tsunade looks at the two with all the pride of a mother and can't stop the smile that spreads across her face.
"So you purr now, huh? That's new." Naru blushes and both the older woman and younger girl laugh. "Okay, if you will both come with me we can go wait in my office to get those tests back and depending on how you do, you can and will tell me about what has happened in the last eight years."
Shikamare, Neji, Kiba and his partner gather around the three and escort them back to the office where they surround the building and wait for their next orders. The tests come back quickly and Naru recites their story. Ryou falls asleep on Narus lap with her had on the elders shoulder. Naru runs her fingers gently through the girls hair, soothing her as she sleeps. At the end of the story Tsunade leans forward in her chair with her fingers intertwined and elbows leaning on her desk.
"How long until Ryou is ready to start at the academy?" The younger blond shifts as her leg starts to go slightly numb. "She is eight years old now so she should be ready in about four years." Tsunade nods. "How long until you are ready to start working again?" The blond resists the urge to shrug her shoulders, but that would only wake up the girl so she only shakes her head. "A month at the most maybe? I haven't been training much since I left so I have to rebuild some of that muscle." Tsunade nods and stands. The younger blond copies her movements and follows her through the door.
In the hallway Tsunade turns back to her. "Where are you going to stay?" The blond shakes her head again. Naru opens her mouth to reply but Ryou shifts in her arms. "Mommy?" She asks. Naru turns her head slightly so her gaze is on the girl. "Yes honey?" The girl stays quiet for a moment. "Why is there a man that looks just like me here?"
Naru freezes. Then she panics. Tsunade notices her distress and remembers that the blond left two days after Sasukes return. The old team seven is looking at the two curiously. "Tsunade- shishio, we are back from our mission. It was a success." Says Sakura. The air hitches in Narus throat and the four trained ninja notice. Tsunade closes her eyes and waits to see how Naru will play this one out.
Sasuke stops ignoring the two and his eyes finally wander over the two. His gaze meets with Ryou and he can't turn it away. He had assumed that a young girl had exaggerated when she had asked the blond why he looked like her, but now he can see the similarities. He accidentally glares at the girl as his mind goes through the many possibilities as to why they resemble each other so much.
The girl shivers delicately and clings closer to the blond, who is still frozen in her indecision. This only scare the girl more and she feels the red bleed into and changer her eyes again today. Sakura gasps and the 'last' Uchiha pulls out a kunai and attacks the blond. The blond dodges and sweeps her leg under his, effectively tripping him and sending him to the floor. She turns so that her face is once again turned away from the group.
She sits on the ground in the hallway in front of the downed Uchiha and pulls the girl to sit in front of her. "Sshh." She soothes the girl. "It's going to be okay." The girl looks over the blonds shoulder to the older Uchiha who is pushing himself off of the carpeted floor. "But who is he?" She whispers. The ninja hear her and Sasuke activates his own eyes as he waits for the blonds answer.
The younger Uchiha gasps and can't take her eyes of the man. "This, baby, is your uncle Sasuke." Tsunade opens her eyes and watches Sasuke closely. Said uncle is doing the math backwards in his head. He killed Itachi eight years ago so at the very least the girl would be seven but she could also be closer in age to ten. "How old are you?" He demands harshly, but internally he is losing the battle of guilt that has risen in him. "I-I'm eight." He quickly does the math backwards. The girl would probably have just been born when he killed Itachi, the girl had never even gotten to know her father. He cringes when another thought runs through his overloaded mind. 'I did to this girl almost exactly what my brother did to me. My innocent brother.'
Guilt floods through him like a title wave, and he turns his attention to the blond. "Are you her mother then?" "She is her adoptive mother." Says Tsunade from the side. Sasuke never takes his gaze off the blond. His heart sinks even lower. It's hard for him to breathe and his vision blurs around the edges.
"Where is her mother?" He asks. His voice is steady and unwavering but inside he longs to release the tears that have built up. The last time he cried was when the dobe hadn't come back from his training three years ago and everyone had given up hope. The blond lowers her head. "She died when Ryou was four months old." She tells him sadly. "A single tear runs down his face. Shame burns at his insides but his pride does not get in the way of this tiny show of emotion.
He doesn't make a move to wipe the tear away and instead he looks at the girl. The rest of the tears dry immediately as he realizes that this girl is his own blood. She is another Uchiha. He's not alone anymore. The only time he had ever felt this way was with the dobe, but he had disappeared and assumed dead.
The woman stands and pulls Ryou into her arms. Sasuke can't take his gaze away from them but his face remains relaxed and impassive. "Can I have your name?" He asks quietly. The woman laughs. The pure amusement sends shivers down his spine. "My name," States the woman turning slowly. "is Namekaze- Uzumaki Naruto." He stares. Same blond hair, same orange, and most of all, it's the same pair of expressive and understanding blue eyes that he has lost himself in so many times.
Sakuras eyes are wide with shock. "B- But you're a g- girl!" The blond flashes a foxy grin. "Yes, and I helped Sasuke revive his clan." Sai grins and Yamato rolls his eyes. "That's definitely Naruto." He says. Tsunade crosses her arms. "I would hope so, otherwise the DNA test I just made her take would be lying." "Care to explain?" Asks Kakashi "The sharingan and byakugan both would have seen through it if you were using a henge, and my sensei said you were a boy."
The girl flashes a grin. "He was just guessing. Do you all remember how Gaaras sand surrounds him and protects him in a bubble?" The all nod. "Well, when a female jinchuriki is pregnant the demon places a similar barrier around the baby, but it is made purely out of chakra. When the jinchuriki goes into labor, the baby absorbs that chakra and then is born through the natural process. That's part of the reason I have so much chakra without Kuramas help. The 'chakra barrier' also helps to protect the baby and makes it impossible to get an ultrasound image. That's why he thought I was a boy."
"Why did you start acting like a boy then?" Asks Sakura, a bit defensively. "Actually that's the weird part." Says Naru. "When Kurama was sealed into me his DNA was stronger than mine so I was unable to be the girl I really was. When I started to figure things out I accidentally showed it in public and that's the 'sexy jutsu'. I did however use a henge to make myself look more like a Barbie doll, otherwise there would be people that would know what I looked like naked, and I really don't want that."
"So what changed that you can be yourself?" Asks Yamato from the back of the group. "I simply gained control over the kyuubis powers. I could have let it be known that I was a girl right afterwords, but we were in the middle of a war so I didn't want to distract my comrades."
"What about the crush that you used to have on Sakura?" Asks Sai bluntly. The blond seems taken aback. "I had a male body and hormones, not a male mind. My body reacted to her but I have never felt anything romantic for Sakura- chan." Sasuke listens while the blond talks. It's low and soothing, allowing him to lower his guard somewhat.
"As fun as this all is you still haven't answered my question gaki." Says Tsunade. Naru winces. "I have no idea, Baa- chan. My apartment was torn down and the Namekaze estate was destroyed during the Kyuubi attack, so I figured we would just throw up a tent on one of the training grounds until I got everything settled."
"Naru you can't stay in a tent." Sighs Tsunade. Naruto bites her lip. "They can stay with me." All heads turn to the usually silent Uchiha. "That girl has the sharingan, so she is an Uchiha. That also means that she has every right to stay in the complex along with her guardian." The blond smiles. "Thanks Teme!"
"Tsunade nods." Since you both agree then it's perfectly fine with me." She glances out the window at the sinking sun. "It's getting late so you are dismissed, but I expect a full report from Yamato and Kakashi tomorrow over the mission." The two men nod and disappear.
"See you tomorrow Naruto." Says Sakura. Naru nods and waves goodbye. Sakura and Sai then leave in different directions. Sasuke silently leads the way out of the tower and through the streets. Ryou is once again sleeping soundly on Narus shoulder. She shifts the girl slightly without waking her and Sasuke looks back for the first time. He notices that she is struggling slightly with the youngers weight and smirks slightly. "What's the matter dobe, did you forget to train?" Her gaze meets his and he can swear that his heart nearly leaps out of his chest.
"No, I just care more about my daughter than my training." Her eyes reflect the moonlight and her normally golden hair seems silver. He had heard his father talk to Itachi one night about how when a woman became a mother she became even more beautiful. He was young at the time and didn't understand so he had put the thought our of his mind, but now the words flow back.
Narus pride, joy, love, and unwavering desire to protect her daughter are showing through her eyes, and hits Sasuke full force. His thoughts freeze and he can feel every time his heart beats in his chest. He swallows thickly. "Would you like me to carry her?" Naru holds her gaze for a couple seconds more before she softens it. Sasuke practically feels his heart melt. 'What has the dobe done to me?' He screams mentally.
His emotionless mask is still firmly in place but for some odd reason he feels like Naruto can see through it. She smiles as if truly reading his jumbled thoughts. "Yes, please." He holds out his arms and Naruto carefully deposits the girl onto his shoulder and into his embrace. He holds the girl with one hand and continues walking to his house. Halfway there Naru places her hand into his and continues to walk quietly. Neither blush. It doesn't feel embarrassing to either of them. It just feels right, so they walk.
A woman coming home from a very late shift at the hospital notices the trio, and even without knowing who they are she can see that they are truly happy. She opens her door and walks into her own house. A light flickers in the kitchen so he goes to investigate. In the kitchen her husband has candles all over the place and is standing quietly with a large grin on his face and a dozen roses in his hand. "Happy anniversary." He whispers as the woman looks wide eyed around the kitchen. She smiles, takes the flowers, and kisses her husband.
When they finally reach the house Sasuke opens the door to the room that will be Ryous. Naru wakes the girl and Sasuke gently places her upright on the floor. He looks away as the girl changes but his eyes are drawn back to the two as Naru gently tucks the girl into bed. She whispers something to the girl and kisses her forehead, but the girl is already once again fast asleep. She walks out of the room and closes the door behind her.
Her gaze meets his again and he can see the same emotions as before, but this time he feels as though it is directed at him. He feels himself take a step closer and she bends her neck slightly to look up at him. He looks deep into her eyes, and she does the same into his. They stand like that quietly for a few moments before he moves agin.
They both close their eyes and his lips lightly brush hers. An electrical feeling runs through both of their bodies. He opens his eyes and watches as Naruto opens hers. He lifts his right hand and trace her cheek gently, before he returns it to his side. "Come on, I'll show you to your room." He whispers quietly. She nods and follows him down the short hallway. "This is your room." He says quietly. "Mine is across the hallway if you need anything."
The blond nods and watches him disappear into his bedroom before she walks into hers. She closes the door and changes into her night-clothes before she pulls back the covers and slips into the bed. She touches her lips and thinks about the kiss before she falls into a deep sleep, unaware that Sasuke is doing the same.
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Thoughts and comments are appreciated!