Well, I received moderately good feedback (no death threats) so, I will continue to post this story. I will try and update every week on either Sunday or Monday, but I may not always be successful in that. I will be as regular as I possibly can and try to power through this story as a way to further procrastinate college/grad school work.

The plot may be a little slow moving, and include chapters that are pure drabble, but alas, I promise that there is a plot and that there will be action. There is a lot to set up and account for when it comes to the past sixteen years, so explanations will come as they may.

So... Enjoy?


"Ayumi, stop crying."

The girl was sitting in the middle of her room with her knees pulled up to her chest, her face on her knees.

"I'm just so mad, he had no right to…" A sob slipped through. "He had no right…"

Sighing, Junichiro sat in front of her and place the first aid kit next to him. "Let me take care of your face, I'll clean the scratch for you."

Ayumi looked up and brushed the tears from her face. After his own storm-out, Junichiro had followed her home to make sure she was okay.

"You're right, he didn't have a right to snap at you like that. But you know how much pressure he's under right now, so you should have known better than to provoke him like that. He was obviously already on edge when we walked in there." Taking the girl's face in his hands, he took an alcohol swab to the scratches, causing her to flinch. He was unapologetic. "I don't know what crawled up his ass and died today, but you know he's probably regretting it right now. Does that make it forgivable? No. But we need to keep in mind how much he has to deal with right now."

He finished by bandaging up her cheek.

"I hate it, Jun. I just want everything to go back to normal. It sucks." The waterworks were coming again.

Junichiro pulled the girl into his arms, "Come here, crybaby." She was the most important person to him, and although she got on his last nerve eighty percent of the time, it hurt him to see her cry like this. "I know it's hard. But it will get better, I promise."

They stayed like they were for a few minutes while Ayumi got her tears out, the girl sitting up when they heard a knock on the bedroom door. The two genin glanced up to see Naruto standing in the doorway, a sad, apologetic look on his face.

"Can I come in?" He asked, eyeing the two. It was up to Ayumi, who just shrugged and nodded. Entering the room, he took a glance around, seeing that it was really messy, but that was normal for the girl. She wasn't the best at cleaning up after herself. But again… that was much like himself.

He sat in the floor next to the two, crossing his legs. "I just wanted to apologize to the two of you for my behavior. Especially to you, Ayumi. I should not have snapped at you like I did, and I should have remembered that you have an allergy to cats. I wasn't thinking on either part. I know that you probably hate me using this excuse, but I have a lot on my plate right now, too much stress built up. Especially today, today is an awful day, and snapping at you only made it worse. I know that it isn't easy on anyone else either, so I'm sorry. I'm trying. I'm just exhausted and at my wits' end right now."

"It is hard on everyone else right now, and it's not fair that we have to go through this. That any of us have to deal with this right now. We've heard the rumors too, you know, we're struggling too." Ayumi kept her voice strong and defiant, even though she just wanted to start crying again.

"And we're all having trouble dealing with it as well. We're angry and scared like you are." Junichiro spoke up to Naruto's surprise. He had never voiced that to anyone as of late.

"And I wish that you hadn't heard those stupid rumors. But you do know that's all they are, right? Rumors. Nothing more." Naruto looked between the two genin, who both nodded slowly. "It will all be better soon. I don't know when, but it will. It could be today, it could be next week, next month. I don't know. And I can't guarantee that I won't snap like that again, but I can tell you that I will try to make it easier for us all. Okay?"

"Okay." Ayumi echoed, which Junichiro quietly followed.

"And you don't have to forgive me, I know you're both pissed at me. But I do want you to know I'm sorry." Naruto forced a grin to his face. The two nodded, and Naruto responded by leaning forward and bringing them both into a big hug. It was returned by Ayumi, but Jun just leaned into it slightly. "I love you both."

Giving them a squeeze, Naruto let go and stood up. "I have a meeting to attend, both of you go and get some rest. When I have time I will treat you to a big dinner out to try and make it up to you." He gave them another weak grin before leaving.

When he was gone, Junichiro sighed and stood up, "I have some errands to run. But I agree, get some rest and make sure get your tears under control."

Ayumi attempted to wipe the remaining moisture from her face as the male left, "Yeah, yeah."


The meeting was long. Too long. Three hours long, and all it did was add more stress to his plate.

Naruto was making his way through the village to pick up Hana from Iruka's. He was in no particular hurry, and elected instead to take his time and enjoy the fact that he was actually able to get at least a little bit of fresh air. It was nearing October and the air carried the scent of a promise of a cold fall.

He was glad that he was able to remain in his own village during meetings between the Kage. Since the war had ended, technology had come a long way, and their meeting had gone on through a video call. Though he wasn't quite up to par on using this new technology, and often times he hated it. But, his illiteracy with technology hadn't been what had stressed him out this meeting. Actually, without either of his advisors present in the village, he may have gotten himself in trouble during the meeting.

But, Shikamaru was in Suna and returning to Konoha sometime this week, and his other advisor, well, his other advisor was….

A noise stopped Naruto in his tracks. He wasn't sure what it was, but something caused him to tense. He was in a part of the village that was heavily covered in trees, and he swore that he had heard an abnormal rustling.

Naruto was on alert. He couldn't feel the presence of any anbu guards, and he wondered briefly where the hell they were. No, this person had their chakra hidden, and hidden quite well, as the man barely even noticed the other's presence. That could only mean that whoever was following him was strong. Really strong. If this person chose to attack him, it could result in an actual fight for Naruto, something he hadn't had to do in quite a long time.

Finding a kunai hidden under his robes, Naruto clenched it in one of his fists, ready for the other to make another noise. He was ready to attack if need be.

Nearly getting ready to let himself slip into sage mode, he heard the noise again. He felt the presence to his left and the hair on the back of his neck raised. Looking into the nearest tree, he had turned his head just in time to see someone launching themselves toward him.