Chapter 6
"I—I don't believe you!"
Kiba shot his teammate an annoyed look and rolled his eyes while heaving a plank of wood over his shoulder.
"You can ask Shikamaru if you don't believe me, Hinata, but he really did just leave," the young man grunted.
Shino remained silent as his teammates disagreed; diligently hammering away at the side of the restaurant they were helping to repair. He could understand Kiba's anger at Naruto's apparent abandonment seeing as his friend valued loyalty above all other attributes, but expecting the same indignation from Hinata about her beloved Naruto was foolish.
Hinata looked over to the spiky haired Chuunin who was working on re-tiling the roof of the next-door building with pleading eyes.
"Tch...troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered. He didn't want to be in the position of hurting her feelings, "I don't know all the details ok?"
"Something weird is going on with that boy," Ino muttered, "And Chouji—get off your ass and help us!"
Chouji responded by shoving the last handful of chips into his mouth and wiping his hands on his pants.
"Ah, sorry Ino, I needed a break...how do you mean weird?"
"Well," the pretty, young blonde started, thinking back to everything Sakura had told her, "Apparently he's been hiding away the last couple weeks..."
"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him in a while," Lee said thoughtfully, he and his team had joined the others in their rebuilding a while back since they had finished repairing the railing on the bridge.
"He hasn't even been at Ichiraku's since that mission. Teuchi's been asking me about him lately," Chouji added.
"Well of course he would be acting out of character!" Ten-ten exclaimed, wiping some sweat off her brow with her forearm, "Jiraiya-sama died a couple weeks ago! Remember? That had to have been hard on him."
"But-but-but Ichiraku's?!" Chouji exclaimed, unable to grasp the concept of missing out on ramen, even in the middle of grieving. For him, food was the ultimate comfort. If anything he should have been seeing more of his blonde friend on his usual stool.
Ino shot all three dirty looks for interrupting her.
"Anyway, when I was working in the hospital after those rain-ninja had retreated I found him on the fourth floor."
"B-but that's—!" Hinata said, looking a bit alarmed. Ino nodded and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Right, the maternity ward. It was so weird. He was just drenched in blood and he was crying. And when I asked him about it he couldn't even answer me. It was like he was in a trance or something!"
Kiba cocked his head to the side and traded looks with Akamaru.
"Well...shit...that is weird..."
"Let me get this straight," Neji spoke up and he settled down on a stack of lumber, "First Naruto disappears for a couple weeks, never going to Ichiraku's and not talking to anyone, then during the invasion he just runs off in the middle of a battle, then Ino sees him in the fourth floor of the hospital of all places while hysterical, and then his apartment burns down later that evening. Did I miss anything?"
"Wait—his apartment burned down?" Ino cried, alarmed. She hadn't realized she let the hammer slip from her hands until Kiba started jumping around below the ladder she was standing on, holding his head. The majority of their party was now looking at Neji in shock—aside from his own teammates.
Tenten gave her a side-long look, "Yeah. You didn't hear? All the jounin were talking about it—Neji told us. Apparently there were remains of some large ninja in there as well. I think they're still running tests on it."
"It was Hoshigaki Kisame," Lee said resolutely, earning more bewildered looks and he guiltily clarified, "I might have bribed Gai-sensei with an extra three-hundred laps around the village..."
Tenten gave him a strained smile and patted him awkwardly on the back.
"Uh...good work Lee..."
"So this is related to Akatsuki," Shikamaru mumbled, glaring at a spot on the ground as he mulled over the possibilities. It made so much more sense now. The attack was clearly a diversion...Naruto had spotted that before him, unsettling as the thought was. Though, now that he thought about it, Naruto would have to be able to have his guard up all the time with that organization trying to kill him.
"You can add being sent on a long-term S-class mission to that list," a new voice joined the group, catching everyone's attention. Sakura approached, looking particularly glum as her dragging gait came to a stop.
The bewildered and blank looks sent her way were enough of a response.
"Yeah, apparently he left sooner than scheduled. Shishou is throwing a fit..."
"H-How long will he be gone?" Hinata asked fearfully.
Sakura looked down at her toes, "Years."
"Years..." the young heiress felt lightheaded all of a sudden. "Years without Naruto-kun..."
Her eyes rolled up in her head and she fell forwards.
"Ahh! What the hell? How does he make her faint when he's not even here?" Kiba cried, diving to catch the falling body of his comrade.
"You sure forehead?" Ino asked quietly to her friend. The depression radiating off of the rosette was almost contagious.
"Yeah, I'm sure," she muttered, wrapping her arms around herself. A sudden, unwelcome feeling of complete isolation washed over her, leaving goosebumps to pop up all along the exposed, pale skin of her arms. Sure, Tsunade-sama had tried to pump her up about training more, but she felt so lost without a sure-fire goal before her. She felt so distant from Naruto; like she hardly even knew him anymore in the course of a couple weeks. How did this happen?
"He is the most troublesome boy I have ever known."
Shikamaru looked at Ino.
"For once, I have to agree with you."
0o0o0o
0o0o0o
Traveling with an infant was much harder than Naruto had originally expected it to be. In truth, he didn't know what he was expecting. He had near unlimited stamina, exceptional speed, and a unique ability to maneuver through tree branches using all four of his limbs for maximum efficiency. Sadly none of these abilities would aid him when a fragile baby fussing at the slightest discomfort was his cargo.
As soon as he had packed away all he could and removed his daughter from the hospital room (while dodging the night-shift nurses) he summoned a shadow clone in preparation for a hastily thrown together escape plan. The security may have been upped due to the sudden attack, but ANBU were focusing on keeping outsiders out, rather than keeping the insiders in. Darkness had just fallen and there was still enough tension and commotion amongst the village to be distracting. It was now or never.
Baa-chan had probably drawn up his mission papers by that time anyway, so he was free to leave the village, but he knew he had to leave before she had a chance to find out exactly where he was going. Even if she was the Hokage, he wasn't going to take any chances. She had a good enough idea of his general plan and hopefully that would be comfort enough to keep her from retracting the mission and sending ANBU after him.
He had instructed the shadow clone to wait until dawn to leave out the front gate of the village with a backpack, making sure to be seen by at least two chuunin guards. The shadow clone was to head as far north as his range would allow him to—stopping in a couple villages along the way with the intent of being spotted. Meanwhile he had already left through the forests on the back end of Konoha hours beforehand, heading south towards one of the lesser villages of Fire Country.
It was due to rain sometime in the next couple days. He knew Tsunade would be furious with him for leaving before she could somehow keep some sort tabs on him (and he knew she was going to try something—a bug, chakra signature reading, anything to keep her informed)—but he also knew she would keep the ANBU from tracking him. She respected him too much for that.
The traveling pace was too slow for comfort, but he was terrified of jarring the baby too much to alleviate his own insecurities. Not to mention anytime he started to pick up speed she would wake up and began wailing and he did not want to draw attention to himself. Halfway through his journey he realized he was still wearing ninja sandals—a sure giveaway that he was trained in the ninja arts—and he quickly shucked them deep into the brush on the side of the road, vowing to return when he could and properly destroy them. Now he looked purely civilian.
It was probably close to around seven in the morning, nearly ten hours of traveling, before he arrived at the small lumber-trading village of Bassai, weary and barefoot. It was fortunate that not many people were awake to occupy the streets because leaving the cover of the forests had brought attention to the fact that he had failed to change out of his clothes. The coat of blood that had stained his ruined clothes had dried, making it very uncomfortable to move around in.
He didn't need any extra attention, so the quaint looking lodge a quarter-mile into the village was the first place he entered, desperate to find a nice bed to rest in before he planned his next move.
A bell jingled over-head as he pushed the heavy wooden door open with his free hand, hugging the snoozing babe to his chest with the other.
"Hello?" he called out hesitantly to the still environment. He saw a staircase ahead leading to an upper floor; to the right side of those stairs were several circular tables with four chairs balanced upside-down on each one. On the other side were some couches and rugs, most facing a large, barren fireplace. The walls of the Inn looked to be made of logs and there were various moose and bear heads pegged around the room. He shuffled to an empty reception desk near the door and hit the little bell.
"Be right down!" an aged, feminine voice called from the floor above in response to the ring. Naruto tensed as he heard footsteps descending down the stairs; he didn't know why but he suddenly felt extremely nervous about starting this new life, and this woman would be the first in it to meet Hitomi as his daughter.
Flats and thick ankles appeared first, followed by a long, brown swishy skirt stopping at wide-set hips. The hem of a blue vest appeared next, one that overlapped a plain, white T-shirt and covered a strong bust, ending in a v-neck to reveal the freckled skin of a neck. Finally the face appeared to complete the look; rosy cheeks, crescent grey eyes that sprouted crow's feet and long, mousy brown hair streaked with grey that rested against the broad back in a single plait completed the picture. She was a bit heavy set and looked to be in her fifties, but the woman gave off a friendly aura that had Naruto relaxing instantly.
She took one look at her customer and the warm smile dropped right off her face.
"Good Lord, child! What happened? Are you all right?" she cried out in shock while revealing the slight twang in her accent.
"Oh yeah..." he sighed tiredly, relieved at finding a friendly face at his first try, "I just need a room."
"Yes, yes, of course! Come in, come in," she ushered, reaching forwards and placing a large but soft hand on his shoulder and pulling. He hadn't realized how big she was until she was right next to him, standing at least a half-foot taller than him.
"I'll get you settled in one of our rooms. Lots of room here; we don't get too much business around this time of year—mostly during the winter. You take a nice warm bath and settle down and I'll whip you up something to eat."
"Thank you," Naruto said earnestly, his stomach rumbling its agreement.
"Name's Iwate Izanami. But you can just call me Juhi, everyone else does."
He gave her a small smile. He didn't understand it, but he was unable to change his identity. He thought long and hard about it on the way over; thought about all the different names he could use or how he could alter his appearance, but in the end he couldn't stomach the thought of doing either. Perhaps it was the demon pride in him but the notion of 'hiding' didn't sit well with him. He wasn't going to hide who he was as though he was ashamed; he was going to continue to be himself...just different. And less conspicuous.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and this is Hitomi," he introduced himself and his daughter, shifting the baby a little so that her sleeping face was now revealed from the mass of blankets she was wrapped in.
It was as though Juhi had just realized that the bundle in his arms was alive.
"Well I'll be damned!" she exclaimed in a soft whisper, "You got yourself a baby too? My, my, this will be an interestin' story. I'll go get the crib we have in storage. That should—"
"Oh, I have a crib and stuff," Naruto interrupted her before she could trouble herself, "I'm no ninja but I know a thing or two about fuuinjutsu..."
"Alright then," she replied simply, sounding a bit impressed all the while. She leaned in to get a better look at the baby, "What a beautiful little thing she is too. She must be yours, am I right? Looks just like ya'."
Naruto blushed shyly, "Well I hear all babies start out looking like their fathers..."
"Bit young though," Juhi added, squinting at him in a much more scrutinizing manner that had him squirming in shame. In the end she shrugged, "Not my place to say, either way. Come on now; let's get you to that room."
Naruto followed her up the stairs where a similar decoration followed suit to the one on the first floor—logs, pelts, woodsy and homey. She brought him to the second door on the left and unlocked it with a set of keys she produced from her pocket.
"There ya go," she said, gesturing for him to pass her.
He walked in to be met with the sight of a queen-sized bed, a nice-sized window that let in plenty of light, a TV, a dresser, enough space to set up a changing table and crib, and bathroom attached leading through another door
"This is perfect, thank you!" he said as he turned to face her with a small bow, hugging the baby to his chest once more.
Juhi waved him off with a thick hand, "Now, now, none of that. You just get settled down here, take a bath and clean yourself up. Come down stairs and I'll have you some nice stew prepared."
Naruto could only smile gratefully as she closed the door behind her, leaving him and his child to their privacy. He gently set the bundle of blankets down on the center of the bed so that she wouldn't roll off and set to unsealing all that he had packed.
It took him close to an hour before he made it back downstairs again. He first had to set up the crib so he could place Hitomi in it, and then proceeded to unpack the few clothes he and the baby had. He took a quick shower and changed into some fresh pants and a t-shirt—one that didn't have the leaf sigma since he could no longer safely bear that symbol—and left a shadow clone behind in the room. Call him paranoid but he couldn't bear to leave the baby absolutely alone in a room, let alone on a whole other floor.
"Well you look a sight better," Juhi's booming voice came from his right as he descended from the last of the steps. From this point of view he was able to make out the kitchen branching off from the dining area. All of the chairs were now taken off of the tables, making the small lodge seem much more spacious.
"Have a seat," Juhi offered him, placing two bowls on one of the tables; "we have another hour before we officially open so eat up. Where's the baby?"
"Sleeping in the crib I set up," he answered and thanked her as he dug into the hot meal. His stomach was nearly purring its approval of being fed—he hadn't realized that he hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday afternoon. So much had happened...
"I don't mean to pry, but showing up at my lodge covered in blood and barefoot of all things has got me pretty curious," Juhi prompted not so subtly. Of course she was content to watch the young boy all but ravage her meal. She hadn't seen her cooking that much appreciated since her sons still lived with her. The lack of manners didn't even faze her.
Naruto swallowed the mouthful of stew and wiped his mouth on a napkin.
"Our village was attacked by rain-nin," he started; he had already rehearsed this in his head during the long, slow journey, a story that was plausible and not too far from the truth so he could keep at it, "I think they were on their way to attack Konoha or something, we're just north of them after all, but I can't be sure. They just attacked out of the blue...there was almost nothing left by the time we escaped."
"Oh you poor dear, no wonder you looked such a mess!" Juhi gushed. She was so sympathetic that Naruto felt a little bad for lying to her. "What made you come here?"
"I-I don't know. I didn't want to run into those rain ninja again so I went around Konoha. At least I think I did, I never had a very good sense of direction," he laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. A frown soon replaced his half-hearted smile, "And I didn't really have anywhere else to go...Hitomi's mother—"
His throat tightened as he remembered Kensha; the blood-stained sheet that covered her body. He had left her there, alone again.
"H-her mother was killed in the attack...I didn't know what to do..." he glanced down at the half-empty bowl of meat and potatoes and frowned. He still didn't know what to do.
The woman gave him another pitiful look and smiled sadly.
"You poor, poor thing. Well, don't you worry about a thing, you hear? You feel free to stay here as long as you like."
"Oh no," Naruto strongly refused, snapping back to attention and looking astonished that she had even suggested it, "I can't stay here for free!"
"Nonsense!" Juhi laughed, "Ever since my two sons married and left I've been dying for a little more company. I would love for you to stay here, you and your daughter."
Naruto was touched that a total stranger was willing to be so generous towards him after only just meeting, but the thought of essentially leeching off of another's kindness didn't sit well with him.
"With all due respect ma'am, I've never had anything given to me. I can't start now."
"You are sweet," she said with a rosy smile, "Alright, how about this. You stay here for free until you get on your feet and then we'll see what we can do about work, sounds fair? After all, don't take this the wrong way but it looks like you could use all the help you can get with that little one."
Naruto nodded and smiled, the weariness from the events of the last couple days showing on his face as he felt himself finally relax, "Thank you so much, Juhi. I didn't think I'd find someone who would be so helpful towards me."
The woman laughed and patted his head kindly, taking the finished bowl before him.
"Oh, you've never been to Bassai no Sato before, have you? We're a small village, but just about everyone knows everyone—we're all real friendly here. You'll like it. Now, I can tell you're dead on your feet so why don't you hop upstairs and take a nap. You'll learn to take advantage of the times Hitomi is asleep to catch up on your own."
Naruto stood slowly from his chair; now that he found a sense of security in this establishment, his body was really starting to lower its guard and, as a result, the stiffness in his joints was starting to show.
"But I thought newborns usually sleep up to twenty hours a day?" he asked the broad retreating back as she returned to the kitchen.
"Sure!" she called over her shoulder with a bark-like laugh, "If the sun's up!"
Naruto wouldn't know what she meant until later that evening, at the start of a long, sleepless night.
The first of many.
0o0o0o
0o0o0o
It didn't take long for Naruto to adjust to his new home. Every morning he would get up for the day (after a periodically interrupted sleep) around seven and create two clones. The arrangement of holding down multiple jobs through the use of shadow clones was something he had started during those weeks with Kensha—and it had worked quite well. Having three sets of income and one set of bills proved to increase his savings exponentially in a short amount of time. Bassai was a town, not a city like Konoha, so his once goal to purchase a larger apartment had been bumped up to buying a small house sometime in the next couple of years. He didn't want to burden Juhi for too long, so he had been secretly sending out the same two clones every morning to work different jobs—jobs that he already had some experience with to ensure being hired.
One clone had henged into a twenty year old brunette with green eyes named Naoto and picked up a waitering job at a restaurant on the other side of town; the other clone called himself Nokku, turning into a middle-aged man of medium stature and graying-black hair who had found work at a lumber factory. He made sure to make both of them rather plain looking as to not to draw any more attention than necessary and both used their ninja skills to drop off their earnings into his bedroom before ending their existence for the day.
Naoto and Nokku weren't the only clones he created. The next step was to send one clone out into the forest, sneaking out the window and into the woods behind the lodge without being seen. That clone would then create forty-nine others and the entire group would travel several miles into the heart of the forest to train, fully utilizing the training method that was unique only to him. It was pointless to work out his body with clones, since physical progress couldn't transfer back to him, but his wind-chakra manipulation training continued full-throttle, often times ending in more and more clones being summoned for the sake of progress.
The shadow-clone jutsu was originally meant for each clone to have its own limited chakra network. The A-rank jutsu was extremely dangerous to the user, and the more clones there were the more the user's chakra was split. For someone with reserves like Naruto, this was hardly fazing; creating two thousand clones left him with only 0.0005 percent of his original chakra supply and he could still kick ass. Usually a clone was created with a fraction of the user's chakra and that was all they had to work with until dispelled; it wasn't meant for clones to be able to draw on the original's reserves.
The "chakra-draw" was a modification Naruto that had spent a long time working on while traveling with Jiraiya. Ironically, this was before he learned the secret of the shadow clones: gaining back their memories and using it to further his training. He only wanted to have clones that were more durable during a battle, ones that could use large-scale jutsu of their own, so after much studying and tinkering (and some heavy guidance from Jiraiya) he managed to open the bank between clone and creator.
It took a quick application of blood seals to the chest of the targeted clone—and the right combination of seals was what took so long to figure out—and a portal of sorts could link the clone and the user together. Unfortunately it was a one-way portal; the clones could draw chakra from him but he could only get it back once they were dispelled. This made the shadow-clone jutsu even more dangerous as he was having chakra pulled out of him from different directions; it was for this reason that he only gave a handful of clones this ability. If he were to open his reserves to a thousand clones he could very well end up killing himself.
The mental strain this method of training left on him was no small impression. Couple with his recent loss of Kensha and trying to figure out how to care for an infant and he was often left feeling overwhelmed by his new lifestyle. But that didn't stop him from keeping up a happy front for Juhi and the rest of the village as best he could.
Even though it was just passing into autumn and not quite Bassai's busy season, the lodge was still a favorite hang-out for many of the adults in the village. Most evenings would have the round tables filled with the usual patrons, eating, drinking and playing cards. This was how Naruto met the majority of the people he now knew, by working at the bar attached to the kitchen as a part of earning his keep. Juhi was delighted that he already had experience with bar work (and no one would say anything about his age as long as he didn't start drinking himself) so she had him take that task off her hands while she got more work done in the kitchen with the two other cooks who worked during the evenings. The warm, laughing atmosphere served to increase the homey feeling of the Inn, allowing Naruto to smile a little more each day despite the fear and guilt he still felt from that traumatizing evening.
Hitomi was a big hit with the locals as well—in fact, her presence probably only served to increase his favor with the village. News traveled fast in the small lumbering town and by the end of the first day people were already stopping by to see the survivors of a destroyed village Juhi picked up. All that was known about them outside the lodge was that they were a young man and his daughter—though no one expected the young man to be so...well, young. Naruto was on the brunt of some suspicious questions for having a child already, but there was no denying that the two were related, especially with the matching whisker marks adorning their cheeks.
Since Naruto wasn't comfortable with letting her out of his sight, Hitomi spent her evenings by his side near the bar in an old baby-seat Juhi dug up from storage. Despite the loud noises and constant coddling she received from the regulars she didn't have seem to have a problem sleeping through it all.
"Two beers and a lime margarita for my lady friend over here," a slick voice broke through the low buzz of the company, drawing Naruto's attention from his reflections.
Satoh Ichiro, the town womanizer. A bit on the scruffy side, thirty, still living with his mother and known to abuse the bottle every now and then, but an otherwise harmless guy. At their first meeting the man was absolutely horrified that Naruto had gotten a girl pregnant—a taboo for any self-respecting skirt-chaser.
Naruto gave him a nod and threw the dishtowel he was using to clean a shot glass over his shoulder, reaching for the bottle opener under the counter.
"Oh, what a cute little baby," cooed the woman attached to Ichiro's arm, "Is she your sister?"
She was clearly a new girl that Ichiro had never taken to the lodge before (he tended to have his arm wrapped around a different waist every other day). The clothes were a little too tight and a little too low-cut for the woman of about average looks, managing to reveal enough cleavage for Naruto to turn away as she leaned over to admire the sleeping baby.
"Nah, that's his daughter, sweets. Can you believe it? Kids these days...no responsibility," Ichiro answered for him, throwing an arm around her bare shoulders and earning an eye roll from the young barkeep.
"Daughter!" she exclaimed, giving Naruto a look of utmost shock. Naruto had grown quite accustomed to it by now after working there for almost three weeks and confirmed it with a small smile. "Well isn't that just the sweetest thing!"
Ichiro choked a bit on the first sip of his beer.
"Eh?"
"You're so cute! Bringing your daughter to work," she cooed again ignoring the margarita Naruto set in front of her in favor of lavishing her attention on the snoozing baby. Even with people touching her head all the time she never stirred; a heavy sleeper, just like her father.
"Well, I like to keep her in my sight as often as possible," he replied, blushing at being called cute.
"Awww, well that's just precious. And you're raising her all by yourself?"
"Yeah, well, Juhi is helping—"
"Alright, alright, the baby's cute," Ichiro interrupted, sounding annoyed at his date's lack of attention. The same thing happened to the last girl he brought up to the bar—young women seemed more interested in babies these days than anything else and he was beginning to see a pattern; he probably should stop bringing them up to the bar with him, "Come on toots, let's get back to the table. I had a good hand this time."
As Naruto watched the slick talker pull the woman away he had to wonder if Ichiro even knew her name.
The clock ticking away over a pair of decorative moose antlers struck nine and like clockwork his clone working at the restaurant dispelled, giving him images of flirting with another waitress, dropping a stack of mugs, and earning a particularly generous tip from—ironically—Ichiro's mother, which was now left on his dresser upstairs. The old woman had a thing for hitting on any male younger than her...which was basically every guy in the village.
He chuckled quietly to himself, marveling at the quirks that could pass down through families...
Unfortunately, about a hundred and seventy clones chose that moment to dispel from the training done in the forest. He was met with flashes of shredding leaves, moving on to applying the same technique to tree branches and using his palms to cut through the thick bark. He could only make it through about half a branch, but it was much harder than cutting through leaves.
He leaned forward over the bar, bracing his arms on the counter in front of him as he tried to hold it together until his mind settled.
"All right?"
He jumped at the feeling of a hand on his back and met concerned, grey eyes with his own as he hastily straightened.
"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm fine," he assured Juhi, rubbing at his forehead. The older woman frowned, clearly unsatisfied with his answer.
She couldn't help but notice that he often seemed weak during the day and sometimes would space out or become faint. She had attributed it to the trauma of seeing his village destroyed and the responsibility of raising a child. He was such a frail looking boy at times, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and was struggling under the burden; it was one of the things that made her want to help him so much.
"Why don't you take the rest of the night off? You look exhausted and you've been doing more than your share around here."
Naruto shook his head adamantly.
"Really, Juhi, I'm fine—"
He was interrupted by the wail of Hitomi, who had finally woken from her hour nap and decided she was due for some food. Her last feeding was almost three hours ago.
Juhi sent him a smirk.
"I think little Tomi thinks otherwise. Go on, now, shoo."
Shaking his head bemusedly, he unstrapped the crying baby and lifted her to his shoulder, catching her baby scent of powder and milk; even with the screaming in his ear he could still feel the comfort she brought him. After a quick stop to the kitchen to heat up a bottle of formula he headed upstairs, nodding to the people who bid him goodnight.
He settled on the edge of his bed next to the stack of money his clones had earned elsewhere and shifted Hitomi to his arm so he could feed her. Her crying desisted immediately, replaced by the greedy grunting and suckling of a hungry baby latched onto a nipple. One thing Juhi like to laugh about was Hitomi's extremely healthy appetite; she didn't leave a single drop left over in any bottle.
Naruto watched her as she ate and she returned the same look, big blue eyes connecting directly with his own while her mouth continued to suck the bottle dry of its own accord.
"Hey piggy, how's that taste? You seem to like it," he knew she couldn't reply to him but he liked talking to her as often as he could. "Let me tell you the plan so far; we've got enough money to live here for a while, but by the end of the year, if things keep going as they are, we could have enough money for a house. Wouldn't that be cool? Our own house? You could have your own room for when you get older and we could have a yard where we can train."
He pulled the empty bottle from her mouth and she made a small noise of protest as he set it on the stand next to his bed. He returned her to his shoulder that still had the dish towel on it and began softly, but firmly, patting her back.
"I need to get training," he continued to speak, walking around the room as he burped her, "I mean, the progress with my wind chakra is going great, but I need to train my body physically. I need to find a way to do that without giving away that I'm a ninja though..."
She responded with a tiny hiccup-like burp and a little bit of spit-up dribbling from her mouth. He turned her in his arms and used the dish towel to wipe the frothy, pale substance from her chin.
"If we get our own place it would be easy, but now..." he trailed off thinking, "I suppose I could always have a clone stay here with you and Juhi and work...but I don't know if I trust that system..."
He placed her on the middle of the mattress and stripped off his shirt, preparing for bed. As he rummaged through his dresser for some sweatpants and a tank-top he continued to muse out loud.
"Maybe if I train non-stop on the woods for the first half of the day...and then for the second half come back here with you two and work the bar...I guess that could work. What do you think?"
He turned to find her curling on her back, her foot up by her face and sucking on her big toe. Naruto sweat-dropped.
"You are one weird baby, baby."
She smiled at him, her gums showing around the appendage in her mouth. He couldn't help but laugh; she had been becoming increasingly active over her first few weeks of life, she spent less time sleeping and more time observing the world around her with great, big eyes.
Now dressed for bed, Naruto stretched out on the bed next to his daughter, who continued to hold the strangely contorted position as she followed him with her eyes. Smiling, he stuck his finger in her mouth and rubbed her gums, which she gladly took in replace of her toe.
"You'll be getting your fangs in a few months...I really don't want to have to explain that. It's lucky that your cute little claws are barely developed otherwise we'd have too many unwanted questions. Daddy will just have to work harder to get that money."
He removed his wet finger from her mouth and tickled her belly; she squirmed, smiling wider yet, taking delight in just hearing his voice so often.
"But we don't have to worry about that just yet. We have a good thing going for us right now. We'll be all right, baby," He said reassuringly, patting her head gently, "We'll be all right."
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Wow, I don't know if it's just me, but this fic seems to have taken a HUGE leap in popularity. It's like the baby boom! Hahahaha-snerk-hahaha...
Yeah, that made no sense.
Hmm, a lot of people seemed to be under the impression that I was going to have a major timeskip. It was probably my allusion to the first few chapters being a prologue. All I meant by that was that the real story (i.e. Naruto raising baby, growing up, kicking ass) would begin. Whoops, sry!
If anyone has questions about the specialized shadow clone, just pm me and I'll explain it better. It's going to be rather important later on.
And thank strider714 for making that whole bit somewhat understand able. Too many paragraphs, I tell you! More dialogue I say!
Thank you all SO much for the fantastic feedback
R&R :)
P.S. It's Naru-chan's BIRFDAY! Horrah! I maded him a present! sketchlerette(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Naruto-Birthday-Hump-Train-100338798