Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or anyone else. I dont even own the voices in my head, it's more the other way around.

Chapter 9: Sins Revealed

Sakura burst into the Hokage's office without so much as a knock a scant hour before Naruto was to give his speech.

"Oi! What the hell's wrong with you Sakura?! You about scared me out of my skin!"

Under normal circumstances, catching the Hokage off gaurd would have been an amusing accomplishment. Sakura's mind, however, was too focused to find the mirth.

"I need to go to Suna, Naruto." she said quickly.

"What? Why do you need to go to Suna, Sakura? Takeo will be with Neji. You don't have to worry."

"It's not my son I'm worried about Naruto," Sakura replied crossly.

"You don't worry about your son? What kind of evil mother are you!" Naruto cried theatricaly.

Naruto instantly regretted those words as tears fell from Sakura's eyes. He was at her side in an instant as sobs wracked her body and knees buckled.

"What's wrong Sakura? I'm sorry if I made you upset, but..."

"I'm the worst kind of mother Naruto," Sakura cried into his shoulder, cutting hin off.

"No your not. Takeo is a good, strong boy. You and Lee have done a great job raising him so far, and Hikaru says your house is one of the funnest to hang out in."

"I'm not talking about Takeo! I'm talking about Akari!" she yelled in anguish.

Naruto was confused.Not only was his friend and former teammate completely breaking down, but she was having delusions! Why else would she be talking about kids she didn't have?

'Best just to humor her I suppose,' Naruto thought

"Sakura," he asked softly. "Who is Akari?"

"She... Sh'e my daughter."

"Right," he drawled, "and where is she now? Do you see her in the room with us?"

Sakura stopped crying and glared as he continued to talk slow and steady, as if to a crazy person he didn't want to upset. The punch that planted him in the wall behind his desk effectively nipped that annoyance in the bud.

"Oi! What the hell was that for Sakura?!"

"I'm not crazy Naruto," she said as saddness replaced her anger. "I really do have a daughter."

"What?! How could you cheat on Lee like that?! He'll be crushed!"

It took her fives times calling his name, and the cracking of her knuckles to finally get his attention away from mapping out her alleged double life with that guy from the bar on the other side of town, who seemed to have blackmailed her into his bed with pictures of her at the beach, or some such nonsense that only Naruto's mind could conjure.

"I don't have a double life Naruto.I had Akari a long time ago, before Lee and I were even dating. She's... Sasuke's daughter."

Naruto halted his wild antics immediately. Only that name could ever put such a serious face on the blonde.

"Saskue," he said with a distant look in his eyes. "How could she be Sasuke's? Sasuke died, by my hands."

He unconsiously rubbed his hands on his robes, as if trying to wipe off blood that wasn't there.

"It was a couple weeks before you went to try to bring him back home the last time. I was having bad dreams and couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk out side of the village to clear my head. There was a nice clearing out there that I liked to visit when I wanted to be alone. My own little thinking spot.

"Only, I didn't get to be alone that night. Sasuke was there, looking out at the village. At first I thought I was still dreaming. How else could Sasuke be right there in front of me? I had never seen him look so lost before, never seen him cry. I think he was reliving the moment when his family died. He kept asking 'Why brother, why?'. I couldn't stand to see him like that. It felt like someone was cutting out my heart with broken glass.

"I went to him. I had to do something, anything, to wipe away that look. I never knew that Sasuke could be that gentle."

Naruto just stared in shock at her confession, but she wasn't done.

"We fell asleep in each other's arms, but when I woke up he was gone. He left a piece of himself behind though. A piece I should never have abandoned. I was scared Naruto. You had found Sasuke and killed him not even a month after it had happened, and then Tsunade-sensei told me I was pregnant. I didn't want to raise her in this village, not as the daughter of a branded traitor. tsunade-sensei let take a few months off and I went to Sunagakure. I gave birth to Akari there, and I left her in an orphanage."

Fresh tears fell from Sakura's eyes as she revealed her life's greatest regret.

"I have to find her Naruto. I have to find out if she's okay. I can't bear the thought of her being alone anymore. Even if she hates me, I have to try to make things right."

Naruto took a deep breath and tried to gather his thoughts.

"That's a lot to keep bottled up. You can go, Sakura. I grew up without a family too, remember? A family will be the greatest gift she could ever have. Even if she hates you at first, she'll forgive you someday."

Sakura smiled at her old friend and copmosed herself before walking to the door.

"Thanks Naruto. I can only hope that you're right."

"Of course I'm right! I'm the Hokage, remember? I'm always right!" he said with his usual grin.

Naruto glanced at the clock as Sakura left his office.

"!0:35 huh? Damn, I'm late!!!"

-ooo-

Hikaru glanced at his watch for the third time as he and the rest of the chuunin hopefuls waited with impatiance for the Hokage's send off speech.

"It figure's my old man would be late."

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A/N: Ok, I know the last chapter was not only short, but a mean ass cliffhanger. Hopefully this makes up for it somewhat. This is actually my second attempt at this chapter, otherwise it might have been posted a little sooner. Hope it's not too weepy or sappy at parts... As always, comments, qustions, and the like are always welcome. Until next time...