I don't own Naruto in this story either…sigh…

Chapter Four

It was nearing the end of August, and the Nara household was preparing to have their fifth annual End of Summer bash. Shikamaru was out in the yard, putting up strings of colorful lanterns. Asuma was supposed to be helping him, but was instead lying at the bottom of a tree, staring up at the mid afternoon sky. Inside, Ino was doing Yuri's hair.

"Ow! Mama, that hurts!" Yuri tried to pull away, but that just hurt even more.

"Well, if you weren't squirming so much then maybe it wouldn't!" Ino snapped the clip in place. "There, you're done."

Yuri hurried over to the mirror and looked at herself critically. "Why can't I just wear it in a braid?"

Ino sighed. "Because you always wear it in a braid. And today's special!" She put her hands on her back, groaning. Planning a big party while being almost nine months pregnant was not easy

"But do I have to wear the dress too?" Yuri spun around, making her long black/brown hair swing, looking at her pretty green summer dress.

"It's not a fancy dress, Yuri. It's casual. And besides, I bet Blaire and Sari will be wearing dresses too." She walked out of Yuri's room, saying, "I'm gonna go check on the boys. People will start getting here soon!"

Yuri looked at herself for another second, then ran over to her window. Looking down, she saw her street, but no one they had invited. Yuri let out a sigh, then quickly turned and ran into the hallway. Looking over the banister, she saw her mother's back in the kitchen. Grinning, she pulled herself onto the banister, then slid all the way down, landing at the bottom with a thud.

"I saw that, young lady."

Yuri winced. Uh! How did she see that? She called,"Sorry, mama!" as she ran out the back door and into the yard.

Shikamaru had strung the last string. He looked over his work and then gave an exhausted sigh, as though he had just put out a great amount of effort. Yuri ran up quickly and leapt on his back. "Gotcha!"

She laughed triumphantly, but then her dad disappeared with a puff.

"Ah!" A shadow clone! She landed easily, but then was picked up from behind.

"Gotcha," Shikamaru smirked.

"You cheated! You used a jutsu!" Yuri struggled, but then Shikamaru tickled her and she subsided into fits of laughter.

"People are here!" Ino yelled from inside. Shikamaru put Yuri down as Asuma rose to his feet. As Shikamaru walked inside, a pink-haired little girl ran out.

"Yuri!"

"Sari!" The girls ran and hugged each other. Sammy, now three, followed Sari, his thumb stuck firmly in his mouth. Asuma walked over to them as Sakura and Ino came into the yard.

As she grew up, Sakura had let her hair grow out again, but now wore it up in a pretty bun. In her arms she carried Shuri. The two women walked over to a group of lawn chairs and sat down, both sighing contentedly.

"Sakura, where's Sasuke? Ino asked.

"He, Naruto, and Neji are on another mission. They'll be back tomorrow, though." She frowned slightly. "I wish Tsunade would stop sending them on these long missions. Sasuke's been gone for a whole week!"

Ino patted her friend's arm consolingly, thinking, I'm glad Shikamaru chose to be a genin squad leader. I don't know what I'd do if he was always away. She looked over at her husband, now entering the yard with Tenten, Blaire, and little Hizashi, and just seeing him made her smile.

Tenten walked over to the mothers, carrying Hizashi on her hip. "Hello, fellow mother-kunoichis!" Tenten smiled brightly. She still wore her hair in buns, despite being twenty-seven years old. But, they worked on her. She managed to look young, motherly, and sophisticated at the same time. Ino and Sakura would never understand how she did it.

"So, how is our Expecting One?" Tenten sat down next to Ino and plopped Hizashi down at her feet.

"Uh! I wish the baby would just hurry up and get here! This one' easier then the twins, but still, me, my back, and my husband can't take much more of this." She yelled over to Shikamaru, who was walking inside. "SHIKAMARU, CAN YOU GET ME ANOTHER PILLOW?!"

He waved a hand in answer as he disappeared inside.

She smiled at Sakura and Tenten. Tenten smiled back, but Sakura was staring open-mouthed at Ino. "Y-you mean that he answers to that? That he actually does what you ask him?"

"Yeah," said Ino. Tenten nodded.

"Neji did that too?" Sakura found it hard to believe that the cold Hyuga prodigy, now one of the top jonin in the village, would dote on his wife like that.

"Yeah, believe it or not." Tenten smiled warmly. "You'd be amazed at what he's like, especially when I'm pregnant. He gets me anything I ask for, always asking how I'm feeling, doing extra things around the house." Her eyes took on a distant look as Tenten's thoughts turned to her amazingly gorgeous, talented, and devoted husband. .

Sakura, still in shock, was pulled back to earth as Shuri gave a cry. Shuri was now eight months old and already had quite a head of blue hair. Sakura have her a pacifier from her diaper bag and Shuri squealed in happiness. Sakura's face softened as she watched her baby, taking on a peaceful and content look.

Ino saw this and put a hand to her belly. It had been almost six years since Yuri and Asuma were born. She was definitely ready for another baby. No, they were ready for another baby. Shikamaru entered the yard, pillow under one arm, carrying Hinata and Naruto's baby Anni as Hinata herself came in behind him.

Motherhood suited Hinata. She had lost some of her shyness, emboldened by both her husband and her son, Tam, who was so much like her husband it was a little frightening. Hinata had let her hair grow a little longer, but kept it the same style. Now, she walked over to the three other mothers and took an unoccupied seat.

"Hello." She smiled at Hizashi and Shuri, then looked at her own baby, whom Shikamaru was now bouncing up and down, thinking no one was watching.

"Hey, Hinata. Wow, it looks like Anni got bigger!"

"I know," Hinata said, in her quiet voice. "But she was so little when she was born, now she's kind of normal size." All three could see the love in Hinata's face as she watched her baby.

"Hey, Hinata, where's Ta-."

"MOM! I CAN'T BUTTON MY PANTS!" Tam's voice was as unmistakable as Naruto's. He ran out of the house, looking around for Hinata, holding his shorts up with his hands.

Hinata blushed and smiled. "Come here, Tam." He ran over. He looked almost exactly like Naruto, except for his white Hyuga eyes.

"I can't get them done! I've tried and tried and tried-."

"It's okay, Tam. There you go," she said as she fastened his shorts.

"Thanks, mom!" He ran to join the other kids, who were now organizing a game of hide and seek. "HEY! I WANT TO PLAY!"

"He had to go to the bathroom," Hinata said, sighing, but looking after him with love.

Shikamaru walked over to them, giving Anni to Hinata and giving Ino the pillow.

"Thanks, Shika." Ino smiled brightly at him. He rolled his eyes, but he smiled.

"Troublesome women."

"Hey, Naras!" They turned and saw Choji and his wife and kids enter the yard.

Choji was a happy guy. He hadn't married a ninja, instead finding a wonderful girl their age named Emi. She was tiny compared to Choji, and she loved him more than anything. Together, they had a little boy Asuma and Yuri's age named Nemar, a little girl named Chiara who was Tam's age, and another little boy, Kenta, who was the same age as Sammy.

The three kids went and joined the others, while Choji and Emi walked towards the adults.

"Hey, Cho!" Shikamaru grinned. Between having kids, Shikamaru teaching his genin squad, Choji going on missions, and, recently, Shikamaru taking care of Ino, the two best friends had not had much time to do guy things. Choji waved to the women before he and Shikamaru went to another group of chairs and started to catch up.

Emi joined the other mothers, who had accepted her right away. She was tiny, with a short, red bob and a wide, smiling mouth. The kunoichi all liked Choji, and were very happy that he had been able to find a partner, just as they had. Choji and Emi were a perfect match.

As the adults talked and talked, the children were trying to organize. They had divided into two hide and seek teams, but more and more people kept coming, and it just wasn't working. Yuri now took total command.

"Alright! Are we all here? Is anyone else coming?"

"No," Asuma said. "This is everyone. All the kids, anyway." He and Nemar, Asuma's best friend, were standing to the side, letting Yuri and her friends do all the work.

"Good. Now, I'll be one captain, and Asuma can be the other." Yuri took on the bossy tone her mother had mastered and had then passed on to her daughter.

"No! Let's do boys against girls!" Tam was jumping up and down. "Come on!!"

"Okay, fine then. Girls over here, boys over there." They split up, then stood facing each other. The girls' side was comprised of Yuri the bossy, Sari the chatterbox, Blaire the peacemaker, and Chiara the adorable little redhead. The boys' team was Asuma the lazy, Nemar the hungry, Tam the hyperactive, Kenta the other redhead, and Sammy the quiet one. (Wow, they're a lot like their parents).

"We call boys count first!" Yuri cried. She high-five Blaire, Sari, and Chiara, then they ran away.

"Fine." Asuma sighed. He walked over to the nearest tree, lay down, and closed his eyes. "Tam, you can count."

"ALRIGHT!" Tam put his hands over his eyes and began counting. "One! Two! Three! Five! Eight! Thirteen! Eleven! Four!"

Asuma's eyebrow started twitching.

"TEN! FOURTEEN! SEVEN! NINE!"

An anger mark appeared on Asuma's forehead.

'TWENTY-FOUR! NINETEEN! SEVENTY-SEVEN!"

Asuma started taking deep breaths, his face getting a little red.

"EIGHTY-FOUR! SIX!"

Nemar, watching his friend, knew an explosion was coming soon, and moved himself, Kenta, and Sammy out of harm's way.

"TWENTY-THREE! FORTY-FIVE! ONE HUNDRED! ALRIGHT, LET'S GO!!!!!"

"You idiot! That is not how you count to one hundred!" Asuma was standing up. Deep in the recesses of the gene pool, one of Ino's temper genes had made its way into Asuma. It only showed itself rarely, and only when around stupidity that was beyond acceptable. At least, in Asuma's terms.

"WHO CARES!!!!!! LET'S JUST GO! GO! GO!!!!!!" And with that, he ran off, leaving a trail of dust behind him.

Asuma took a second to calm himself. When he seemed okay, Nemar said. "Well, let's go."

As they walked, Asuma muttered, "He probably already got lost, or stuck somewhere…"

The four remaining boys searched at a more sensible pace, and, sure enough, seconds later found Tam stuck head first in a bush.

The girls' team, meanwhile, was doing pretty well. They had all run in a big circle, then, after the boys had gone out looking, had climbed into the tree under which the boys had been counting. It was genius. Yuri patted herself on the back for thinking of it.

"This was a good idea, wasn't it?" she said.

Chiara smiled and said, "Yeah! You're amazing, Yuri."

"Shhh! They're gonna hear us!" Blaire put a finger to her lips, her Hyuga eyes intense. They sat there in silence. After a minute, Sari began to get bored. Her eyes started roaming, then they froze.

"Y-yuri!" She whispered frantically.

"Shhh! Do you want them to find us?" Yuri was caught up in the intensity of the game and she did not want to lose.

"There's a-a-a SPIDER!!!! AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Sari threw herself away from the arachnid that was crawling several inches from her ankle. Her scream scared Chiara, who jumped a foot in the air.

Yuri yelled, "SARI! YOU'RE GONNA MAKE US LOSE!" But then she registered what exactly Sari had yelled. "What? There's a spider? WHERE?!" She sprang to her feet, looking around wildly.

"Ow! Yuri, you're stepping on me!" Blaire yelped. "Stop jumping around, we are in a tree, REMEMBER!"

Chiara screeched, "A SPIDER! AHHH!" She too leapt to her feet.

The boys, only a few yards away, heard the screams and came over to see what the problem was. The parents, too, were looking at the tree, confused and a little worried.

The tree was in chaos. They were all, except for Blaire, scurrying around, trying to avoid the dime-sized monster.

Down below, Tam yelled, "HEY! WHAT THE HECK'S GOIN' ON UP THERE?!"

Blaire gave up trying to calm down the other girls. She moved over to try and get down, but then a blond head popped up from nowhere.

"HEEEEEY!"

"AHHHH!" Blaire nearly fell out of the tree, but instead fell into Chiara, who fell onto Yuri, onto whom Sari was clinging for dear life. All four toppled from the tree, bringing Tam down with them.

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" THUD. They landed in a heap on the ground. Right in front of Asuma, Nemar, Sammy, and Kenta. No one moved for a second. Then, Sammy stepped forward and poked each girl on the forehead.

He popped his thumb out of his mouth. "Tag."

………………………………………………………..

After everyone recovered from the spider incident, the evening relaxed. As the sun began to set, they all sat around, talking and playing. The children had given up on hide and seek, and were now separate. The boys were off doing their own thing, Tam trying to get Asuma to spar with him, but Asuma was under the tree again, ignoring him. Shikamaru and Choji were together, now sitting in companionable silence, staring at the sky. Tenten was walking around the yard, Hizashi on her hip, rocking him to sleep. Shuri lay in a little nest at Sakura's feet, sleeping soundly, while Hinata held her sleeping Anni. The other little girls were all sitting around their mothers, talking.

Ino sat back in her chair, looking at all of the people in her yard. All of her friends and family. She loved them all, so much. And to have them all, gathered here, on this perfect night, was-.

Uh-oh. She felt something. Oh my gosh. Holy cow. HOLY SHIT!

"Shika?" she called. He didn't hear her. "Shika! SHIKAMARU, MY WATER JUST BROKE!"

The yard went silent; even the crickets stopped chirping. Then, chaos.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" The little girls all screamed. This woke up the sleeping babies, who, in turn, all started screaming. Tam hadn't heard what Ino said, and kept asking,

"What? What's happening? Why is everyone screaming?!"

Sakura, Tenten, and Hinata all gathered around Ino and Shikamaru was at her side in a second. "Really? Are you sure?"

"WHY WOULD I BE JOKING ABOUT THIS!?" She roared.

He winced. "Right. Okay, uh, Choji! Come here!" Choji ran over. "You and I are gonna carry Ino to the hospital." He reached down and picked up Ino from one side as Choji got the other. Ino's contractions started.

"Ahhhhhh! Shikamaru! Hurry up!" They ran from the yard, Sakura and Emi followed, Sakura carrying Shuri.

Tenten turned to all the kids, who were all running around and screaming. "Hey, kids, listen up!" No one heard. "Hey! HEY!!!!" They all froze, staring at Tenten with wide eyes. "No more screaming. Now, we're all gonna go to the hospital, and we're gonna go in order. Asuam and Yuri, you're each in charge of your gender group. Keep them under control, and who ever doesn't cooperate," she pointed to herself with her thumb, "Will answer to me. Got it?" Two blond, one black, two red, one pink, one blue, and two brunette heads nodded. "Alright, let's go!"

Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino were already out the door and halfway down the street, with Sakura, Shuri, and Emi close behind, followed then by Tenten and Hizashi, the nine children, and Hinata and Anni pulling up the rear. They walked quickly through Konoha, down the five blocks from the Nara house to the hospital.

Ino's contractions were coming faster. She grabbed Shikamaru's shoulder in a vice-like grip. When she yelled, he yelled with her. "Hu-rry up!" she hissed.

"We're going as fast as we can!" He told her, but he and Choji both quickened their already very fast pace. Finally, they made it. The three burst through the emergency room door, just as Ino let out another yell, grabbing Shikamaru's ponytail.

"She's having a baby! NOW!" he told the receptionist through gritted teeth.

"WHY ARE WE AT THE DESK?! GET ME TO A ROOM NOW!!!"

The nurse jumped to her feet and grabbed a wheelchair. Shikamaru and Choji gratefully put Ino in the chair. Choji wiped his forehead, glad that his part in this was done. But Shikamaru's job was just beginning. Ino had a grip on his arm and would not let go, pulling him along as she was wheeled away.

"Good luck, Ino!" Sakura called down the hall. She thought a second, then, "You too, Shikamaru!!" They disappeared behind the big, birthing-wing doors.

Yuri looked at the clock for about the hundredth time. It said two a.m. Had they really been there that long? We've been here for six hours! My god, how long can having a baby take?

She was sitting in one of the hospital waiting room's armchairs, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently. On her left and right were Blaire and Sari, both sleeping soundly, Sari's head on Yuri's armrest. Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten had all decided to stay until Ino had the baby, meaning all the kids had to stay as well. When the nurse realized this, she had brought them a pile of blankets, which had all been distributed.

Sakura and Tenten shared one couch, Shuri and Hizashi sleeping between them. Both were awake, but just barely. Hinata sat at another couch with Tam, who was sleeping with his head in her lap, and Anni, who was asleep against her chest. Hinata herself was also asleep. Emi and Choji sat at another couch, sleeping against each other. Sammy, Kenta, and Chiara were all spread out on one couch, all asleep. Asuma and Nemar were sitting next to each, Nemar asleep, but, for once, Asuma was not. He, like his twin, was sitting up, staring at the clock. Waiting.

Suddenly, the door to the hospital burst open and three ninja came in. Neji Hyuga, Naruto Uzamaki, and Sasuke Uchiha stood on the threshold, all three looking a little nervous. But, when they saw their wives and children, they relaxed and walked over.

"HEY! WH-." Sasuke slapped his hand over Naruto's mouth, rolling his eyes.

"Tenten, why are you all here? Is-," Neji started softly.

"Ino's having her baby!" She whispered excitedly. "We were at her party, and then her water broke, so we all came with her, and we wanted to stay." She reached out for Neji's hand. "I'm sorry if we worried you. How did you know we were here?"

Neji gestured to Naruto. "He followed Hinata's scent here. He caught yours and Sakura's scents as well and told us." He sat down in the chair next to Tenten's couch and leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

"How was your mission?" Tenten asked, her face concerned.

"It was fine. It would have helped to have Shikamaru, though, because-." He stopped as the birthing-wing door opened.

Said strategic genius walked through it, looking exhausted. As soon as they saw him, Yuri and Asuma jumped up and ran to him. The adults all turned to him. He saw his old classmates, their offspring, his offspring, and he smiled.

"A girl." He said hoarsely. Sakura screamed, but then clapped a hand over her mouth. Tenten beamed at him, Neji smiled, Hinata clapped her hands, Sasuke smirked and nodded, and Naruto jumped in the air.

"ALRIGHT!!!" Sasuke clobbered him over the head.

"Shut up, you idiot!"

Yuri jumped up and down and ran around, keeping her hands over her mouth, but positively bursting with excitement. Asuma beamed at his dad. "Can we see her?"

Shikamaru lead Asuma and the still jumping Yuri back through the doors and down the hall. They turned into a room. Yuri gasped. Ino was sitting up in bed, looking even more exhausted then Shikamaru, but beaming brightly. In her arms was a little bundle. Yuri jumped onto the bed and looked at her new baby sister.

"She's so little," she breathed, wide eyed. Ino wrapped one arm around Yuri and kissed her on the forehead. "What's her name?"

Asuma came over and Shikamaru picked him up so that he too could see. Ino smiled at Shikamaru, then said, "Rose."

Yuri's smile grew , if possible, even bigger. "You're a flower, just like me!" She reached out a finger and touched Rose on the nose. Her sister scrunched her face, but continued sleeping. Yuri looked down on her and said, "I hope you turn out just like me!"

Shikamaru groaned. "That's the last thing we need in this family," he started.

"Another troublesome woman," Asuma finished, nodding his head firmly. Rose let out a little sigh.

…………………………………………………………………

There's chapter four. Wow, I got three pages into this chapter, but then I decided I didn't like it, so I had to rewrite it. Sigh. How troublesome… Anyway. Thank you to all those who reviewed! I've been getting a lot of reviews that say this story is cute, so I hope this is cute enough! I managed to get all the children and parents in here, except for one family. Can anyone guess who? I think I had the most fun writing about Tam, because he's so much like Naruto! I decided to add Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto in at the end, because I wanted them to make an appearance. They last family will hopefully make their debut in the next chapter and I can't wait! I'll try and update soon, so keep reviewing! They give me extra motivation!