Chapter 3

Hope you liked the last chapter!

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"Aiko-san! Welcome!" Sakura greeted the woman at the door with a large embrace. "Come in, I have mochi rice and sweet potatoes and, well, a lot of food that's needs to be eaten." Sakura took her into the living room. In 5 years, the Uchiha household had been made into a cosy residence.

"Ooh, such a nice house," Aiko said gazing at the decor. She noticed the young boy playing with his father's ninja tools. "Aw, such a sweet boy!"

Soukai stared at her as if she had just escaped from a mental institution. "Nani?"

"Soukai..." Sakura rolled her eyes. "Why are you playing with your father's old kunai?"

"Speaking of him, where's your husband? I'd love to see him," Aiko said excitedly, just as he was walking through the door.

He was reading a scroll, completely unaware of the women's presence. "We've ran out of toilet paper, Soukai keeps using too mu-" He paused. "Who are you?"

"This is Aiko, she's from the sand village, we went on a lot of missions together and she happened to be in Konoha so I decided to introduce her to the family," Sakura explained with a bright smile.

Sasuke gave one nod as he nervously looked at the auborn haired women standing before him.

"Well, your husband is a hottie isn't he?" Aiko said, making Sakura laugh.

"Yeah, his name is Sasuke U-"

"He doesn't happen to have a brother, does he?" Aiko joked.

"Uchiha..." Sakura finished, cringing.

Aiko instantly put a hand to her mouth. "I'm so sorry...I completely forgot..."

"Why, the Uchiha symbol outside not obvious enough?" Sasuke snapped. "Should I make it a little bigger, maybe with lights on?"

"Sasuke that is enough," Sakura said as Aiko reddened.

Soukai was listening intently. The Uchiha history was a touchy subject, but why? What was his father hiding?

"Enjoy the food Aiko, I won't be a minute with my husband," Sakura said pleasently, dragging him into the kitchen. "Well that was nice of you."

"Look I'm-"

"No, I don't want your explanations-she was complimenting you. Now if you don't apologise to her right now I'll feed you to the fangirls!" Sakura threatened.

"Okay I'm going," Sasuke said, without hesitation as he went back into the living room.

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Soukai left the house while his parents talked with the visitor. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he trudged to the park just nearby. To his relief, Harino was there, sitting on a swing and drawing once again. Soukai was popular in his class, his skills lied mainly in tai-jutsu with his unique strength and he ws handsome like his father. Though there were other children his age to play with, he found Harino good company, perhaps because they were sort of like cousins. He took a seat beside him and dug out his prized treasure from his pocket.

Harino stopped drawing. "What's dat Soukai-chan?" He peered at the picture.

Soukai purposely wanted Harino to see it. "I think it's my uncle."

"Your uncle? He does look like horsee, doesn't he?" Harino agreed.

Soukai raised a brow. "Horse?"

"Your dad." Harino grinned the way his father did.

Soukai nodded understandingly. He forgot Harino had made his parents some form of pet. Sakura, for instance was a bird, which looked after him if Naruto or Hinata were busy. Soukai personally thought that a bird and a horse was a very odd combination.

"My dad keeps hiding things from me. About Uchihas and what happened to them," Soukai told Harino quietly.

Harino burped loudly. Soukai frowned at him. It was clear that the two friends had been raised in very different ways.

"So...da Uchis have a mystery?" Harino wondered with interest. "Why don't we investigate?"

Soukai liked the sound of that. "Investigate, ne? There are probably loads of secrets in my village! Let's go look around while my parents are at home!"

Harino nodded excitedly as they both hopped off the swing and ran to the Uchiha village.

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Naruto gazed at his paperwork in slight concern. No word yet from the remaining squad in Otogakure. He was confident that some were still alive.

"None are alive."

A voice in Naruto's mind? No, it wasn't his voice. But the very tone seemed like an echo, fading in a dark room. What was that voice?

"The voice is me, lord Hokage..."

Naruto stood immediately, understanding now that whoever this was, they were a threat. "Show yourself now." 'Can this person read my mind?'

A figure appeared in the office, a hood covering his head and a long cloak to cover his entire body. Underneath the shadows, he could see a smirk-one which Naruto partially recognised.

"Who are you?" Naruto demanded, ready to fight if it was necessary.

"Your men are dead-sound ninja are vile when they want to be," The man spoke. "A ninja like you...should watch out."

"You have no threat against me. I take it you're the one that has been controlling Otogakure these past months?" Naruto asked, averting his eyes to the man's clenched gloved hands. "Why so eager to conceal yourself?"

"I have many names amongst this word lord Hokage, why reveal myself when my name says enough to leave people scuttling like petrified mice? Konoha has not yet felt the horror of my skills..."

Naruto did recognise this person, but who? "And what names are they?"

"Well, the jutsus I perform certainly have an effect on what people call me...harvesting is a clue..." The man chuckled in a low voice that sickened Naruto.

"Why are you here?" Naruto demanded once again.

"I want that boy's power..." And with that, the man disappeared.

Naruto could no longer feel the man's chakra. He sat back down in his seat and pondered on the thought...harvesting? He would have to go to the library and research on this-there were many jutsus that could resemble the word 'harvesting.' He knew now that his country was in danger. Naruto wanted to know who this boy was. What boy's power seemed promising enough that a familiar stranger would happen to want it? His clues led to his own son and perhaps Sasuke's son. Considering, Otogakure wanted Sasuke's head it would be no surprise if they wanted Soukai. But so far, Soukai's strength had not been apparent enough. And surely they would not know that Sasuke was now a father? As well as this, Soukai was only 4 and there were no traces of his kekkai genkai as of yet. Only his mother's immense strength-but still not enough to tempt this odd person. He would have to make a call and warn Sakura, just in case.

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Once Aiko had left Sasuke could finally have the chance to talk with Sakura about this mission. Reaching under the cushion, he took out the file and handed it to his wife.

"Did Naruto give this to you?" Sakura asked him casually, flicking through the pages.

"He wants you to study it," Sasuke told her. "I need to talk to you about this."

Sakura knew this was coming. "You are annoyed that you were removed from this mission and that I am taking your place?"

"Otogakure is dangerous," Sasuke said.

"I'm a jonin, I think I can handle dangerous. Don't forget, I was an ANBU as well," Sakura told him, not looking up from the file. "They don't know we're together." She placed a hand on his. "You don't need to be so protective of me."

Sasuke nodded. "I don't want to...well, you know."

"I get that. Trust me-I'll kick their ass before they kick mine." She winked at him just as the phone rang. "Moshi moshi?" Naruto was on the other end. "Who was it?" There was a pause as Sasuke tried to eavesdrop on the conversation. "Looked familiar?" Sakura looked up at Sasuke who pretended he wasn't listening. "Which power? Well why would Soukai be at risk?"

Sasuke immediately crawled over to Sakura and leaned against the ear-piece with her.

"He's in the house, yeah. Okay, we'll be careful." Sakura hung up the phone. "A man from Otogakure came to visit him, they're after a boy's power and Naruto says to watch out for Soukai just in case."

"A man? Who?" Sasuke asked.

"Naruto said he looked familiar but he was wearing a cloak," Sakura explained. "Soukai! Will you come here for a moment?"

Sasuke began to worry as he heard no reply. "Sakura...you know how quiet he can be when he runs from the house-his speed is like mine and his slyness is like yours...I don't think he's here..."

Sakura paused before standing up and running out of the house. She needed to find her son.

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Uh-oh! Sorry about the cliffe, couldn't help it, please review, I might be able to update the next chapter today or tomorrow!