This is officially the last chapter. I'm somewhat annoyed that it's as short as it is, but hey, it would have made the previous chapter super long. In fact, all together this chapter and the previous one totaled out to be 25 pages double spaced in Microsoft.

Anyway, thank you for sticking with me and enjoy.

Naruto, its universe and characters don't belong to me. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

…

Six days later, Hayate was found dead.

The ironic thing was that very day Yuugao had been on her way to see the captain of her squad to tell him about her pregnancy. Her captain had been on a two week mission prior to that day so she hadn't had the time. When she approached him, he told her there had been a body discovered near Kikyo Castle and that her squad had better take a look. A chill ran up her spine at the way he stared at her. With an almost… pitying look. But she set out with her squad anyway.

Once she got there she wished she hadn't.

She wished she hadn't even woken up that morning.

Seeing Hayate lying there, slashed open and bleeding everywhere with an expression that looked empty, she felt dizzy and immediately retched. She could still see his face the day before, sitting on the couch eating the last of those shitty oranges and staring at her as she brushed her hair.

When he didn't come home that night, she assumed he was convening with the Hokage about the Chuunin exam prelims or out to dinner with Genma or something… anything that would mean he would be out late but definitely home the next morning!

The next few weeks after his small funeral she spent all the time she could in her tiny apartment crying into one of his shirts. It was in that dark time that she seriously considered giving up her baby. There was still time, a voice in the back of her head had told her. She was only 4 weeks along; she could still get out of this. There would be no way that she could handle the life of a parent alone and she knew that. But it was during those thoughts that the voice of Hayate rang in her head loud and clear.

'I want it too. I want it so much'.

And in that moment she'd feel disgusted with herself for even considering losing one of the only things that would forever remind her of Hayate.

When her squad mates came to her with news that it was discovered a sand shinobi had killed Hayate, she vowed to get revenge.

Her chance came when the final rounds of the Chuunin exam took place and Konoha was under attack by both Sound and Sand ninja alike. Promising she would never put her baby in harm's way after this day again, she donned her mask and did her civic duty as an ANBU member and defended Konoha even at the cost of every sand ninja that crossed her path. She would never know if she had taken care of Hayate's murderer but the destruction of her home and the grief of his death was too much to allow her to be easily sated.

When the battle was won and the traitors had left the village in shambles, she announced to her captain she was pregnant, no longer afraid that she'd never get back into the organization that she dreamed of belonging to. She had begun to believe that if she never got back into ANBU, then she would be the best damn mother that ever existed. He offered her a job as the new mission coordinator- as close to a secretary job as you could get in ANBU- and she took it, along with the pay cut. That same afternoon, she packed up all the things in her apartment that she could fit into a box and went to tell her mother her newly developed plan, praying to whoever was listening that she'd be understanding. She couldn't afford her rent on her own salary anymore and she didn't want to take care of her baby by herself. Hayate was gone which meant the only thing she could do now was move back in with her mother. Yuugao didn't like the idea of swallowing her pride and returning to the home of the woman who on so many occasions tried to tell her she would never make it as a ninja. But Hayate wasn't with her and she had no one else to turn to.

Informing Uzuki Yuri that her only child was now pregnant, husbandless and without much in the way of financial help and needed somewhere to live was easier than she originally thought and dreaded. It was the entire month of silent treatment and the subsequent 3 months of snide remarks and sideways dirty glances that was harder to bear. However, not everything about her new life was hard. The desk job had been pleasant, she still spent face to face time with her squad members and she had been able to save up enough money from each paycheck, plus the money she had earned from selling her old furniture to pay for a small apartment. After her baby was born she would try to get back into ANBU and try to keep a steady lifestyle.

It was now late March and things were beginning to gain some sense of normalcy. Earlier that day, she had been out with her mother grocery shopping when she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Her mother had heard her gasp and asked her what was wrong. She tried to explain but another pain hit and she couldn't speak. Her mother understood completely and they went to the hospital without a second thought.

10 hours later, here she sat in her hospital bed; blanket covering everything under her rib cage and her new baby girl resting comfortably in her arms. Yuugao caressed her cheek with one finger and the tears that hadn't fallen in a very long time poured down her cheeks.

"I love you Sonomi-chan. I love you so much!"

There was a knock on her door as her doctor, Dr. Mesu walked in. The dark haired woman smiled and pushed up her glasses farther along the bridge of her nose.

"Yuugao-san, there are a few people waiting to visit you in the hallway. Would you like them to come in?"

Yuugao's brow furrowed, not expecting anyone but her mother to be waiting for her, but she nodded and Dr. Mesu walked back out.

The next minute, her mother walked in. Her face wasn't in a scowl or a grimace. She just looked tired. Yuugao stared at her, not sure what to expect. Her mother pulled up a chair and sat next to her bedside, just staring at the baby.

"It's a girl huh?" she asked tiredly "what's her name?"

"Sonomi. Hayate picked it out"

"And her last name?"

"Uzuki… I guess. We never got married so…."

Her mother eyed her skeptically before sighing.

"I suppose you'll be trying to get back into that… establishment as soon as you can won't you?"

"What, ANBU?"

"Yes that."

Yuugao sighed, way too tired to be having this argument again. "Yes Mother. It's the only thing I know. And really, it's what I'm good at. And if I can get promoted to captain. I might be able to make a decent living."

Her mother sighed and closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. This was a common fight they partook in (in place of dirty looks they fought at least once a day- but Yuugao wasn't complaining because it was more communication she had had with her mother in years). Yuri thought now that Yuugao was a mother, she should take a civilian job, or even keep her current desk job. Yuugao didn't like the idea of staying behind a desk all day and wanted to be able to run and hunt and feel just as she did before she left on leave.

"Well then… I'm guessing you'll need someone to watch Sonomi-chan when you're working."

Yuugao stared at her waiting for a new argument to spring up.

"Are you offering Mother?"

"Would that be a bad thing?"

Yuugao turned her head so quickly she thought her neck would snap. Her mother had just offered to help her?

"Don't look so bewildered Yuugao. I… I remember how hard it was for me when your father died and I had to take care of you alone. Besides, she's my granddaughter."

"T-Thank you Mother."

Yuri smiled and Yuugao thought she'd have a heart attack. "You're welcome Yuugao. I called that woman you're friends with… Hama-san? I called her from the front office and told her you were in delivery. She's here. I'll send her in. "

"Th-Thank you."

Her mother smiled and kissed her on the forehead as she stood up and left.

Yuugao gaped and watched her go.

Her mother was acting very strange today.

Another knock and Yuugao told them to enter.

In came Hama with a bright smile and her sandy brown hair in disarray as if she'd done it in a hurry.

"Oh Yuugao-chan! She's so beautiful! I came a quickly as I could! What's her name?" Hama quickly took the seat Yuugao's mother had previously occupied.

"Uh, Uzuki Sonomi"

Hama hummed.

"So how's Sato-kun? And Nori-san?" Yuugao asked, having gotten friendly with Hama's family while spending her off time with her.

"They're good. Sato didn't understand why I was so excited after your mother's phone call." Hama giggled.

Yuugao giggled too and her baby cooed enjoying the happy noises.

"So how is your squad doing without you?"

"They're doing well. They had to train a new recruit to cover my position. Her name is Komachi. One of my younger colleges, Towa seems to have taken an interest in her."

Hama sighed wistfully and Yuugao smiled. Then she suddenly remembered a bit of news that had been shared with her.

"Oh, I also just got word that one of the platoon captains is retiring so my squad captain is taking his position."

"I heard about that too. I was actually at HQ yesterday" Hama fidgeted in her seat "And I have some great news for you! They… they want you to become Squad Captain! When you're ready to come back from maternity leave they said, of course. I, uh, asked them if I could give you the spectacular news. Congratulations Yuugao-chan!" Hama grinned.

Yuugao was stunned. She was going back into ANBU? She went on maternity leave, left her squad and was still getting back into ANBBU? This was unbelievable.

"Ok Yuugao-chan, that's probably enough earth shattering news for one day. I'll let you rest. I just wanted to stop by and see you and the baby."

"Thanks for bringing the great news Hama-san and coming to see me."

"You're welcome Yuugao-chan. I'll see you at HQ."

"W-wait, what?"

"Oh? You didn't know? I'm taking over your old job as mission coordinator" Hama winked and gave a wave as she left.

Yuugao smiled and gave her own awkward wave considering her hands were full of baby.

As soon as it got quiet, the air felt heavy and Yuugao began to cry again.

She nuzzled her daughter's face with her cheek and kissed her.

"Sonomi-chan this is wonderful. We're going to be ok. We're going to be just fine."

She kissed her again and the sleeping babe let out a whine as if she were annoyed. Yuugao laughed and felt a cold pang of grief grip her heart as she wished more than anything that Hayate was there with her.

But she couldn't change that.

She was here with her daughter keeping her safe and warm.

She would get to watch her daughter grow; watch her find her way in life.

She'd make sure her daughter knew how much she loved her father and how brave he was.

She'd tell her not to be sad that he was gone because he did it to keep both of them safe.

So while she held her baby, the proof of the love Yuugao and Hayate shared, she promised herself to tell Sonomi why she ate an orange every morning.

Or why she liked to swing on the rope swings at the academy playground.

And most importantly why she always left a light on once the street lamps went out.

…

Yeah, I know a happy ending. But hey, I like 'em. Thanks for reading 'Little Secrets'!

So for those of you that stuck around, I'll give you some tidbits of info.

Let's start off with names because I'm really into names.

Sonomi = Garden Beauty

Mesu= Scalpel

Makiko= Fire wood child

Hama= Beach

Nori= Seaweed

Sato= Hometown; Village

Yuri= Lily (Which is funny because Yuugao's name is a type of flower too)

Chiharu= Thousand Spring

Sonomi, Chiharu and Makiko all came from Card Captor Sakura since I was re-reading it around the time I first started writing this.

Another thing that I feel is worth mentioning is that I had a bunch of extra scenes that either floated around in my head or were actually written out before being cut. One of those was having Yuugao meet up with Komachi and Towa (who are in fact real characters, I didn't make them: check Narutopedia) and have them scare her into not being so confident about having her baby, but it just got to be repetitive and annoying so I scrapped it. But since I really wanted to have them be at least mentioned, I threw them in at the end.

Another thing I wanted to throw in was a scene with Yuugao meeting up with Kakashi since they seem to have been at least acquaintances at one point, but I just couldn't work it in no matter how I tried.

Oh! Before I forget there is a picture I drew of Sonomi on my Deviantart page which is linked in my profile, so check it out if you want (be warned: It's old art and I haven't posted anything new in a while so it's not that great).

Thanks for sticking around with me so far! Hope you enjoyed!