A/N: I'm so sorry – I'm running a bit late, but school's REALLY swallowed me up! But, before getting to the chapter…
Thank you SO MUCH for those AMAZING reviews! (hugs and candies to all!) I'm still baffled by how much you guys have liked this so far. Thank you!
Okay, as I left you to a REALLY cruel cliffied, let's go! I hope you'll enjoy!
April
Evening was already darkening when Kakashi was making his way towards home, finally having been stitched up by a extremely grumpy medic. His steps paused when he suddenly spotted a very much familiar figure speeding towards the forest nearby. His eyebrows furrowed as he instantly gathered that something was seriously wrong. " Aika? What's going on?"
She halted and looked at him, odd mixture of anger, fear and anxiety in her eyes. " The one who gave me the cursed seal is somewhere around here", she explained in a tight voice. " She's managed to sneak her way into Konoha."
Kakashi's heart made a strange move. " Let's go."
Neither said a word as they sped on, hearing strained to extreme to pick any possible threat. (Kakashi was pleased to discover the medic had done good job enough to allow him to run.) After quite a while, they ended up to the opening where Naruto and Sasuke had been practising and paused to listen, some whispering threat alerting them.
Kakashi looked around with sharp eyes, his hand constantly prepared to graph weapons, and felt ominous tingling on his skin as he witnessed the subtle signs of battle everywhere. Then, despite slowly falling darkness, his well-trained eyes caught the most unnerving thing. In snow, stains of blood could clearly be seen.
He shuddered just a little.
What the heck happened here?
Aika's voice ripped him from those thoughts. " Kakashi, look."
Gazing towards the same direction as she, he arched an eyebrow upon noticing a unconscious, purple-haired man laying on the snowy ground, moaning a bit while slowly regaining consciousness. " Now what should we do with this one?"
" Let's take him to the prison", Aika stated, alerted eyes still gazing around, searching. Subconsciously, she rubbed her shoulder. " I'm sure the interrogators will have a lot of fun with this one." He didn't notice how she swiftly picked up something and hid it into her pocket.
As Kakashi flung the man roughly to his shoulder and they begun to make their way away, neither noticed a figure that observed them from trees.
Naruto could almost literally feel his heart in his throat while sitting in the hospital's waiting room, fiddling with his fingers until they turned sore. For about millionth time since he'd brought Sasuke in his eyes travelled towards the clock hanging on a nearby wall. Ten minutes past midnight.
A tiny growl escaped him.
What the hell is taking them this damn long?!
During the seemingly endless amount of time he'd spent in this extremely unnerving room, his mind had came up with such dreadful horror-images that he was sure he'd lose the last of his sanity if he wouldn't get some news soon.
He nibbled his lower lip and wrapped his arms tightly around his upper body, feeling very cold.
Please let her be okay, he pleaded although he had no idea of from whom. His eyes darkened. I just got her back. Don't you dare rip her away from me again.
Yet another forever must've passed until Sakura finally appeared, exhausted look upon her face. He was up faster than he'd ever moved. " Is she okay? What happened? What the heck was that bleeding about? How…?"
" Naruto", the pinkette stopped his rambling in a stern voice. A faintest smile appeared. " She's fine, although shaken." She hesitated for a while before nearly whispering. " And… so is the baby. It was a close call, but they're both okay."
It took a tireless age before Naruto's brain – clouded by tiredness, relief and slowly draining stress – finally registered those words. Once it all sunk in, his eyes widened to unimaginable size, and his face lost absolutely all colour.
He sat frozen and muted by shock for so long that Sakura gave him a worried frown. " Naruto? You're not gonna pass out on me, are you?"
He barely heard, his mind still much too busy with the former things she'd told him. " P – pregnant…", he finally wheezed, showing first signs of life in almost two full minutes.
Sakura nodded slowly. " Yeah."
At those words, shock gave room for full-blown panic. " But…! But she can't be!" And then, all terror was unleashed. If it was even possible, his eyes became wider still. " Sakura, there… There's no way I could manage being a father! I… I'd kill the poor thing, I…!"
" Naruto!" Sakura's yell was most definitely loud enough to awaken people in the rooms nearby, but she didn't seem to care. Gradually, a soft smile came to her face. " I know you're scared, and it's understandable. But I can assure you that you'll do just fine. There's still several months for you to prepare yourself, and there are many people who want to help you. Besides, I'm sure no one could give a baby more love than you."
He looked down towards his nervously twitching hands, nodding deeply. " Yeah…", he managed to murmur, almost able to convince himself. " And I'll have Sasuke-teme taking care of the mess with me." Despite all, he just had to chuckle a bit. " Damn, it's surreal to think about her as a mother!" Not that picturing himself as a father would've made even slightly more sense…
Sakura was silent for a long moment, until she finally voiced her thoughts in a odd tone. " Naruto… Do you love her?"
His eyes widened to such extend they nearly popped out of their sockets. " WHAT?! No way, I could never…!" Then, words suddenly ran out as he realized that there was no way he could lie to Sakura (or himself) like this. His head dropped, blonde locks shadowing his face. " Yeah."
There was something bizarre he just couldn't name in the girl's voice as she spoke next. " Then walk into that room and tell her. Show her how much she means to you before it's too late."
He frowned and looked at her. " Too late?"
Sakura's green eyes flashed, clearly stating that there was no room for more questions. " Just get in there, Naruto. I know she'd want you there."
Seeming somewhat confused, Naruto nodded and opened his mouth for questions, but then changed his mind. " Thanks, Sakura-chan", he half-whispered, beginning to make his way towards the door of Sasuke's room.
" Anytime."
¨
Watching Naruto's distancing back, Sakura found it hard to hold back a small sob.
Damnit, you two… You've gotta stop wasting time.
As though working on their own accord, her eyes moved towards the clock Naruto had been stubbornly staring at for the past endless hours.
Another month had just begun. Sasuke's time had just ticked even shorter.
She shivered, feeling impossibly cold. A burning sensation she just managed to blink away took over her green eyes.
Fate really does suck, she decided right there and then.
¨
Naruto barely dared to breathe as he slowly entered Sasuke's room, cautiously taking two surprisingly silent steps.
He wasn't entirely sure of what he'd been expecting to find, but he realized a breathe of relief escaping as he discovered that although Sasuke's face seemed far paler than usual and she had a frown of discomfort upon her face while sleeping, she appeared to be alright.
Slowly, his thoughts settling into control again, he found his gaze sweeping towards her stomach, which was protected by one of her hands. Far more than he would've been able to process went through his head as he little by little begun to realize that in there, was growing a child. Their child. His child.
His eyes widened at the thought.
Holy crap…
He was about to become a father!
Those thoughts overwhelming him, he didn't even realize he was approaching Sasuke's bed until he was already there. He gulped thickly, uncertain of what to do.
Sasuke needed rest, but… He just had to – needed to – make sure…
As thought approaching some type of a wild-beast, he outstretched a hand, laying it gently to Sasuke's cheek. The raven twitched, protecting her bump even more determinedly, but didn't stir. " Sasuke?" he whispered, almost sure the Uchiha wouldn't even hear him.
He reeled back a step when somewhat hazy onyx eyes suddenly did crack open, peering towards him with confusion. " … 'uto?"
He nodded, unsure as to whether he wanted to start roaring, crying of relief or laughing.
For a moment, Sasuke blinked with a frown, then – so suddenly it startled him – fell even more pale than before, dark eyes flying wide and filling with emotions drugs and fatigue allowed her to show. At first, Naruto was slightly confused by her sudden terror, until he realized that she was clutching the fabric covering her abdomen with a seizure-like, frantic hold. As though following some instinct, he laid his hand to hers, feeling tensed muscles immediately relax a bit. " The baby's okay", he told her in a surprisingly soft voice. Even with his current state of mind and logical thinking, he understood it wouldn't have been wise to tell her just close to disaster things had came.
His words slipping in slowly but surely, the girl relaxed with a shuddering sigh, sinking deeper into the bed.
At first, he managed to contain himself, for Sasuke's sake. But in the end, his temper sprung out of control. " Teme, why the hell didn't you tell me?" He started to flap wildly with one hand (the other still resting on the girl's shoulder). " We're going to have a baby! Why…?"
Sasuke gazed towards him with a very meaningful look. " Because I knew you'd react that way, dobe. And the last thing I needed was you having a panic attack."
Managing to calm down, Naruto pouted. " Well I have every right to panic! I nearly got a heart attack when you passed out bleeding!"
Making a strange sound in the back of her throat, Sasuke rubbed her face with one hand. " Sorry", she murmured, obviously in no state of mind to control her tongue.
At that unexpected word, Naruto felt the last frail traces of self-control disappear. It stung a lot more than he would've expected when Sasuke jolted as though in pain when he climbed into the bed and wrapped his arms tenderly around the raven. Before he even registered himself moving, he'd pulled the girl close and buried his face into her hair.
No matter how much Sasuke tensed, how badly he could sense she was wanting to get away from his hold, he refused to back down. " Let go, dobe", a slightly tired, strained voice barked out.
Face still hidden into her bangs, he shook his head, not wavering. " Nu-uh, teme." He had to gulp a bit to rid the lump in his throat. " This has been a very, very bad night, okay? And I know it's been even worse for you. So suck down your damn pride and stop squirming, okay?"
A small growl erupted from the Uchiha. " You'll better keep your hands in line, idiot."
He couldn't keep himself from smirking faintly. " Bastard."
Feeling Sasuke's body slowly but surely relax, Naruto found himself staring at the girl's face, as though not yet daring to believe she was really alright. Subconsciously, he pulled her even closer.
He'd already lost one chance, stolen by Itachi. He wasn't about to make the same mistake the second time around.
His hand brushed the Uchiha's bump ever so lightly.
There was no room for screwing around when the stakes were this high.
With those thoughts he drifted off into a slumber, the sleeping raven cradled protectively against him.
Gorgi Teshini had been working in the Konoha's dark, dusty prison for as long as he could possibly remember. During that time, such villains had been dragged in right across his eyes that he most likely didn't even want to know what they'd done to end up into this dark rat-hole.
That evening, a purple-haired man he'd paid hardly any attention to had been practically thrown into one of the interrogation-rooms to wait for inevitable. But overall, it'd been one of the most boring days during his entire work-history.
He'd almost managed to doze off when he was awakened by sounds of approaching heavy steps. Lifting his gaze and clearing his throat, he discovered Ibiki's familiar face nearby. Cold, unnerving chills of alarm went through him, but he quickly disregarded them as a trick of overactive imagination. " You hear for the newest rat?" he inquired, handing the man a pen and a paper.
The larger man nodded, a chilling look in his eyes Gorgi didn't recall seeing before. " They said this one's a tough one to crack. I'm curious to see for myself", the man stated while giving a signature.
With a small, envious sigh, he struggled up from his chair and walked a couple of hallways, Ibiki's loud steps following him close. The sensation of threat from before became even clearer now, but he paid no mind to it.
Perhaps it's time for me to get another job, he mused. It looks like I'm losing my mind here.
Noticing that he'd reached to correct door, he fished out a key and opened it. " Have fun", he stated before sauntering back to his usual spot.
He never saw the blood-freezing smile aimed at his back. " I definitely will."
¨
The purple-haired man's head rose at the sound of someone entering and door being closed. He snorted upon meeting the scarred man. " So you're getting this desperate? Don't you understand that…" It was then, the person before him begun to change. His eyes widened to a comical size when the large man turned into a much too familiar, brown-haired woman. He gulped laboriously. " W-what are you d-doing here?"
" You've caused quite a bit of trouble", she announced in a venomous voice, pulling out a long dagger. " I'm here to clean it up."
¨
It wasn't until after a couple of minutes did pieces finally click in Gorgi's head. A low growl escaped his throat. " Oh crap…"
Unless Ibiki had suddenly became both-handed, he'd just screwed up loyally.
Without wasting another second he bounced up and sprinted to the cell as fast as humanly possible. But it appeared he'd been too late, after all.
His eyes widened at the stomach-turning sight. " Holy…!"
The prisoner was slumped very down in his chair, glazed eyes still filled with terror and mouth wide open for a prayer that'd never get a chance to be heard. There were three long, gaping slashes decorating his neck.
The mysterious intruder was nowhere in sight.
Iruka had almost fallen asleep into his armchair when he suddenly heard somewhat shushed voices from outside the house's door. Rubbing his eyes to wake up a little, he struggled up from the chair and sauntered towards a window to see what was going on. Soon enough, he wished he hadn't.
Outside, just visible with the little light of night, were Aika and Kakashi. He couldn't hear what they were saying, of course, but the look upon Kakashi's face told all necessary. For he knew his friend well enough to know the man didn't wear that expression too often.
Feeling a slash, he turned away from the sight and walked back to his chair to pick up the book he'd left there.
A couple of seconds later, Aika came in. She blinked with surprise when finding him awake. " Iruka? What are you still doing up?" She then sighed, understanding. " Don't tell me you stayed up waiting for me."
Not sure of how to respond, he decided to switch topic. He managed to distract himself a bit with returning the book into a bookshelf. " You stayed out for a long time. Is everything alright?"
She looked away, and he couldn't help noticing she was rubbing her shoulder with a barely traceable hint of pain in her eyes. " Yeah. Though Kakashi and I found a rogue-ninja collapsed into snow." Before he could even gasp, she spotted his arising shock and went on. " Don't worry, the guy was harmless. According to what we know, Sasuke and Naruto fought he and his brother, and Sasuke knocked him out. Unfortunately his brother got away."
Coloured drained from Iruka's face and his eyes grew huge as worry sunk in. " Are they alright?"
" Yeah, thank goodness. Kakashi just visited the hospital to make sure." A mischievous smirk spread across her face. " All three of them are just fine."
His eyes became even wider than before as realization dawned. " You mean…?!"
Her grin grew. " Oh yeah. Your ex-students are going to be parents."
Iruka's head spun a bit as he attempted to digest the absurd thought. So… His students – who'd been just kids five minutes ago – were about to have a family. Eventually he winced. " I feel really, really old right now."
Aika laughed, then became considerably more solemn. " 'Ruka… There's something more I should tell you." She searched through her pockets. " I found this laying nearby the attacker:"
At first, Iruka frowned, not recognizing the pendant she showed him – a beautiful silvery one, representing spread wings. But then, he forgot to take one precious breath when remembering. " That's hers, isn't it?" he wheezed. Receiving a nod, he went on. " Have you told Kakashi?"
Aika shook her head, putting the necklace back into her pocket. " If she's really alive, I'll tell him – he deserves to know. But for now, I don't want him to get any false hopes. It's highly likely that bastard stole it from her before or after her death. It's impossible to know before I'll get to ask some questions."
This time Iruka nodded in agreement, at a complete loss of words.
She… could still be alive, after all this time?
It was silent for some very long moments, until he noticed that she was still rubbing the place where her cursed seal was with a visibly strained expression. " It's really giving you hard time, isn't it?"
She nodded with apparent reluctance. " It's still scorching." She seemed to shudder. " I'm not sure if that woman who gave it is in Konoha, but she's definitely not far."
This time Iruka shivered. After hesitating for a long moment, he graphed her hand. Seeing her suspicious expression, he felt a need to explain. " I was just wondering if some massaging would take a part of the pain away."
She chuckled as they sat down, Iruka into his chair and she to the floor, leaning against his legs. " We haven't done this since I was ten."
" Well isn't it about time, then?"
" Hn." After a longest moment, she went on. " Thank you." Heaven knows, she was thanking for so much more than the massage.
He smiled softly. " No problem."
Iruka wasn't entirely sure of for how long they'd been in silence – he massaging her slowly but steadily relaxing shoulders with gentle, firm motions – when he finally gathered the courage to say something that'd been dangling by his tongue for a very long time already. " Tiger, I was wondering…" It was at that point he realized why she'd became so relaxed all of a sudden; she'd fallen asleep. His eyes softened and obtained something close to disappointment. " Never mind."
¨
In his house, Kakashi suddenly felt a strangest jolt go through him. Frowning a bit, he turned his gaze towards a window, and felt his heart lurch.
For his eyes locked to the room of Iruka's house, or more precisely to the window of the room that'd been given to Aika. As he watched (unable to do anything else), the brunette laid the woman gently into the bed, then pulled a blanket to cover her. After hesitating for a longest time, Iruka planted a chaste, tiny kiss to her forehead. With that, the brunette (who seemed quite rattled by his own actions) all but hurried out of the room, turning off the light.
After standing frozen for a couple of seconds, Kakashi emitted a deep sigh and walked up to his window, pulling a curtain to cover it (as well as to hide the sight outside).
He knew all too clearly that his dreams would be far from pleasant that night.
It was rather early in the following morning when Hinata finally decided to emerge from Kiba's hospital room, feeling it was now safe to leave the brunette to rest.
She wasn't exactly surprised to discover that instead of home, her feet carried her towards a whole another destination – to a certain stone she would've most rather never seen again.
Shino's name wasn't there yet, but she still needed to let him know that Kiba was alright. To tell him how sorry she was for not coming sooner.
She, however, didn't get even close to her destination before her steps halted and her eyes widened tenfold. Her head was sent whirring so badly she was surprised she didn't just faint there and then. " S – Shino?"
But no, her Hyuuga's eyes weren't failing her. Shino was indeed walking towards her – unscratched, and most of all, alive. Such a wave of relief flowed through her that she was nearly knocked off her feet.
Shino was alright, and so was Kiba. Her team was still whole. She hadn't managed to get two of her most precious friends killed, after all.
Managing to overcome initial shock, she took some slightly wobbly steps forward. " A – Are you a – alright?"
He nodded, his face strangely soft behind his glasses. " Yeah. And I assume you are, too." It was then he noticed something, and a tiny frown came. " Where's Kiba?"
No matter how hard everyone had been trying to convince her that none of what'd happened was her fault, Hinata felt a stab of guilt go all the way through. She looked down and swallowed hard. " H – he's in a h – hospital. He got b – badly hurt, but h – he'll be alright."
She could've sworn she heard Shino take a deep breath of relief. It took a moment before he spoke. " I'll go and see him, as soon as I've taken Miyako to see Tsunade."
Hinata's head snapped up with surprise, and it wasn't until then she noticed their tiny-sized escort, who was practically hiding behind Shino's back. Her eyes widened a bit. " The m – mission…"
Shino nodded. " It was a success."
Hinata felt like a ton's weight had been lifted from her chest.
They'd succeeded, after all. She hadn't managed to destroy everything.
Understanding seemed to flash by the boy's face. He seemed… mirthful, almost. " You should go back to Kiba. I'm sure he'd like to hear the news from you."
She nodded, blushing a bit although she wasn't entirely sure why. Just before he walked away, she spoke once more. " S – Shino?" She went on as he turned to look at her. " I'm g – glad you're o – okay."
Shino nodded with a slightly softer expression, then walked away with the strange, scared-looking girl. She, on the other hand, spun around and begun to rush towards the hospital once more.
She couldn't wait to get to tell Kiba the good news.
In the hospital, Sasuke woke up to a sound of extremely loud snoring. Her eyebrows furrowed.
What the…?
Slowly coaxing her eyes open, he wasn't entirely sure whether she wanted to snarl or laugh when the sight met her. For sleeping right beside her was Naruto, snoring with a extremely contented look upon his face. His arms were wrapped so tightly around her that there was no hope for her to be able to move without him waking up.
Involuntarily losing herself into gazing at his face for a moment, she once again found herself cursing how damn adorable Naruto could be at times.
Sighing with irritation, she moved the hand that'd been resting on the blonde's shoulder and gently smacked him to head. " Dobe, wake up. You're crushing me."
Naruto made a grumpy sound and wrinkled his nose, extremely slowly inching his eyelids. " Teme, why can't you ever wake me up without causing physical injuries?"
She rolled her eyes. " Stop being cry-baby, or I'll smack you for real."
Sasuke would've most definitely noticed that Naruto's hold on her still hadn't even loosened, if her thoughts wouldn't have been snatched elsewhere. For at that exact moment, she felt a certain thing for a first time since the hellish previous day. At first she thought she was going to feel sick, but then… She realized that it was the baby moving.
It was extremely hard for her not to gasp as her hand flew to her belly, and something must've have shown from her face since Naruto frowned. " What's wrong?"
She couldn't keep softness away from her eyes and voice. " Nothing's wrong, dobe. It's just… Unlike you, the squirt seems to be morning-active. It's practising ninjitsu in there."
Naruto's eyes widened. " You mean… You can already feel it?" Rapidly, the blonde's hand was clasped against her abdomen (which caused her to jolt in reflex). Soon enough a pout of disappointment came. " I can't feel anything."
He restrained a chuckle. " Of course you can't, idiot. It's still too early."
Naruto cast him a wary look. " But… The kid's okay?"
" Yeah", she murmured, fighting the urge to move her hand so that it would've touched his. " Everything's okay." For another few months, at least…
She was hurled out of those thoughts upon noticing that there was a odd look upon Naruto's face, almost like the blonde had been… gathering courage for something. Extremely bad feeling begun to swell inside her. " Naruto?"
The blonde swallowed hard, not looking at her. " Sasuke… You'd never hate me, no matter what I told you. Right?"
Extreme coldness filled her as she begun to understand all too clearly. " By now, you should know better than to have to ask something like that, dobe."
After a extremely deep breath, Naruto opened his mouth again – but before he managed to utter a word, there was a knock on the room's door. After a moment, Sakura peered in. They could've sworn her small smile widened when he saw them in the same bed. " Hey. I came to see if you two had woken up already."
Successfully regaining his usual cheery expression, Naruto grinned. " What's up, Sakura-chan?"
" Now that you've rested, I'll have to make a ultra-scan to make sure the baby's alright." Seeing Sasuke scowl, she gave the raven a threatening look. " That look doesn't work on me anymore. It's for the baby's sake, Sasuke-kun."
The Uchiha growled with a sulking expression. " Fine."
Naruto grinned goofily. " Meh, don't be such a sourpuss, teme. It'll be amazing – we'll get to see our baby for a first time!"
Sasuke cast her eyes towards heavens, not completely unable to disguise her amusement. " You're a real goofball, dobe."
" Bastard!"
Sakura rolled her eyes, unable to hide a smirk. " C'mon, you two. None of us has all day."
¨
About fifteen minutes later (most of which had been used with convincing Sasuke into removing her shirt), the extremely humiliated and violated looking raven was laying on a bed with Naruto and Sakura both so close it made her feel extremely uncomfortable. She darted a warning look towards the machine Sakura was carting her way. " You're not bringing that thing an inch closer."
Once again, the pinkette rolled her eyes. " Sasuke-kun, I know you hate hospitals and especially being poked on, but after the blow you received this'll have to be done." She smiled. " This'll be over in a few minutes, I promise."
Sasuke grumbled something, but didn't resist despite all other urges when Sakura took a bottle of something and brought it closer. " This'll feel a little cold", she warned her.
An inch was snatched from he Uchiha's pride as she shuddered when icy gel was placed to her stomach. " 'A little cold'? That thing's worse than ice-cubes!"
Naruto's hand reached out and ruffled her hair. " Quit that complaining, teme. Sakura-chan said this'll only take a little why. I'm sure you can handle that much."
Sasuke gave him a sour look, but said nothing.
The machine Sakura had brought in earlier was taken closer. Only a moment later the examination begun. Sakura's careful eyes remained on a screen nearby. " Sometimes it takes a while to find the right spot", she murmured, then smirked victoriously. A sound of extremely rapid beating filled the room (or actually, it sounded more like two beats). " Eureka! The baby's extremely active, and seems to be doing perfectly fine." After a moment, however, her expression became that of near-shock, and her face paled a shade. " What…?!"
Sasuke and Naruto were instantly alarmed. Sasuke tensed, but Naruto beat her to speaking. " Sakura-chan, what's wrong?"
Sakura's eyes seemed unnaturally wide as they slowly turned towards them. " It's… There's… not just one baby." She made a shaky gulp. " It's… twins."
Sasuke, who usually detested any signs of emotions, found herself powerless to keep her eyes from widening. " What?!" she shrieked.
Naruto's eyes kept widening the exact same speed as colour drained from his face. It took a long time before he managed to stutter. " I… I think I'm going to be sick." With that, he sprinted off.
Sasuke, on the other hand, barely managed to register his exit, because shock had washed away all else.
Twins?
She could barely even think about dumping one baby into Naruto's hands, and now… She was supposed to leave behind twins?
How the hell was she going to be able to do this?
¨
Sakura felt her eyes sting as she watched the very uncharacteristic look of utter shock plastered upon Sasuke's face. After hesitating a moment, she cautiously laid a gentle hand to her shoulder. It was a extremely loud statement of Sasuke's state of mind that she didn't even flinch under the touch.
The only sound in the room was the twins' determined heartbeats.
Kakashi wasn't entirely sure of what power drove him towards the KIA-stone that early morning – most likely he needed guidance, especially after the extremely disturbing dreams that'd been bombarding him the entire long night.
He was there so early that he was sure he'd be alone. That's why he blinked a little with surprise when finding that stood before the stone was woman with ginger-coloured hair. Without saying a word, she turned to leave. And Kakashi felt his chest nearly still.
No, there was nothing horrendous about her. But… As he looked into her brown eyes, he found something so familiar it became hard to breathe.
While he stood frozen, the woman smiled (although something chilling remained lingering). " Good morning", she greeted, bowing slightly in a polite manner. " I'll leave you alone to pay your respects."
As she begun to walk away, he found himself speaking just before she would've disappeared. " Do… I know you?"
He couldn't see her face as she replied in a strange, amused voice. " Not anymore, I believe", was her cryptic response. What he also couldn't see was she returning to her real, brown-haired form. " Bye for now, Kakashi-kun."
His eyes flying wide and hand twitching towards weapons, he spun around to demand some answer. But she was already gone.
He found himself shuddering.
Who the hell was that woman? And why did he have such a nasty feeling about this?
Still in the mental turmoil Shino's return had brought, Hinata practically sprinted towards Kiba's room, desperately wanting to give him the good news. Approaching the correct hallway, she blinked with surprise upon hearing two familiar voices snarling.
" Kiba, for the about thousandth time, you've been in bed for over a month! You can't just go jumping all over the place before proper rehabilitation!" Ino sounded… rather edgy, actually.
" I'm a ninja!" Kiba sounded desperate. " I can't just lie around like this!"
She emitted a deep sigh.
Oh no…
A second later, she was close enough to see. She blinked a bit at the sight that met her. Akamaru was stood by a doorway with Kiba (who'd in some incomprehensible way managed to climb there) sitting on its back, a look of stubbornness upon his face. Ino, on the other hand, was standing right before him with her arms spread, blocking the duos way with a extremely annoyed expression.
" W – What are y – you doing, K – Kiba-kun?" she found herself asking.
Kiba's eyes softened just a little when finding hers. " That woman who attacked us is still out there. I want to find her, to ask what the hell she wanted with that girl, and to get our damn mission over with. And I can't do that if I'm tied up to a bed!"
" Kiba, let me say this in a way you'll understand", Ino snarled, blue eyes showing no signs of giving in. " At this point, your muscles don't have even the strength you'd need to stand up. And you're seriously planning to fight someone who just defeated the two of you? You'd get yourself killed, damnit!"
Hearing those words, Hinata just couldn't remain silent anymore. " Y – you really s – should listen to her. I d – don't want you to get h – hurt again." She knew there was a begging look in her eyes, but at the moment she refused to care. " P – please?"
¨
Slowly but surely, Kiba found himself melting under Hinata's pleading eyes. He, however, still sulked a bit. " Fine", he grumbled. " I'm staying in bed. But only because of you."
Approaching steps kept him from seeing how flushed Hinata's face became. They were all surprised when seeing Sai. " I heard shouting, and decided to come and see what was going on", the dark-eyed explained, seeming somewhat discomfited under their questioning looks.
" It's okay", Ino stated with a wave of hand, beginning to approach the boy. " I was just about to finish my shift and come to look for you, anyway."
Kiba's eyebrow bounced up and he gave a laughter. " Are you two going out for a date or something?"
He vaguely wondered if Sai was aware of the rosy tint that rose to his pale cheeks.
Ino merely rolled her eyes, although there was clear embarrassment upon her face, too. " Oh shut it, dog-boy." She then turned her attention to Hinata. " Take care of him so he doesn't get himself killed, okay?"
He was slightly surprised to see Hinata's face go beat-red. (And truth to be told, seeing the blush caused this strangest flutter into his stomach. It was almost like… hope.) " O – of course."
Watching Ino and Sai leave, Kiba grinned wolfishly when noticing that they were holding hands.
He'd just won quite a amount of betting-money…
Just then, a slash of intense pain went through him, sliding down his back that'd been injured. He hissed a bit.
Fine, fiiine, he mused with a murky expression. I'll stop making fun of those two!
Hinata's voice called him back from his thoughts. " K – Kiba-kun, a – are you okay?"
He was still grinning while waving a hand carelessly. " Yeah. A couple of scratches won't keep me down." Taking a look at her face, he just couldn't retrain himself from adding, no matter how out of character he sounded. " You know… You're kinda cute when you worry."
Hinata's face obtained a shade of dark crimson as her mouth opened, but a single world wouldn't come out.
Neither noticed the knowing, pleased look upon Akamaru's face as they made their way into the room.
There was a strange, almost anxious aura hanging above Tsunade's office as Shino entered, followed closely by extremely nervous Miyako. The Hokage – who seemed just about ready to rip apart or scorch the mountain of paperwork before her – visibly jolted when her eyes travelled to the girl. " I see your mission was a success, after all."
Shino nodded, inwardly frowning at the edge he could hear in the woman's voice.
A touch of softness appeared into Tsunde's warm-coloured eyes. " Konoha is glad to have you back." Then growing solemn once more, she turned to look at Shizune, who'd been stood nearby. " Shizune, could you please take our guest into a quiet room? I'm sure she'd need some rest."
Shino's face softened as the girl cast a terrified look towards him. " It's alright", he reassured her in a surprisingly soft tone. " These people are friends. You can trust them."
Seeming slightly calmer, the girl nodded stiffly, then hesitantly followed Shizune out of the room.
As soon as the door was closed, Tsunade spoke. " Shino… That girl is going to need a lot of protection – for both her sake and Konoha's. And it seems you're the only one she trusts. So…" Her eyes hardened. " Would you be willing to take accept the task?"
He nodded without a moment's hesitation. " Yes." He then grew suspicious, something close to alarm lingering underneath his skin. " But somehow, I've got a feeling I don't know everything about this… mission just yet, Lady Tsunade."
The Hokage gulped, darkening and hardening eyes darting towards window. " I didn't dare to tell you before in fear of endangering the mission, but now… You deserve to know, for the sake of your safety." She then looked at him straight into eye with a gaze that left no room for lies. " Would you still want the mission if you knew your escort is the Eight-Tailed Beast's container – as well as Orochimaru's daughter?"
Shino could just feel colour abandon his face, all blood froze in his veins until he could barely breathe. " W – what…?!"
She was… a demon-container, and a daughter of one of the greatest enemies Konoha had ever faced. And… he was…
" A lot of people already know she's a container – rumours travel pathetically fast around here. She's going to need protection from both allies and enemies." Tsunade's eyes didn't weaver from his. " Do you still want this mission?"
Shino shocked even himself with how little he hesitated. " Yes."
He must've been out of his mind, completely insane, perhaps even a masochist. But… All those days and weeks, she'd taken care of him, saved his life. And now he'd brought her here, into the worst place possible with her secret. Making sure she was safe was the least he could do. He owed that much to her.
That didn't have to have anything to do with how good he felt around her, right?
Somewhere along the way, Shikamaru and Temari came to realize that if they indeed wanted to get married before their child should be born, they had a bit of a problem. Technically, they were both still underage, which meant that they'd need their families' acceptance.
And that's why (with Temari standing bravely right beside him) Shikamaru was forced to face what he'd feared almost most since he'd found out about Temari's pregnancy.
Shikaku Nara blinked with surprised as he opened up the door of his house and found the two of them. " Shikamaru? Now what are you doing here?" It was then he noticed Temari, and it didn't take ninja's eyes to detect her condition. The man gulped thickly, growing pale. " Uh-huh… Now this won't be pretty."
" Shikaku? Is it really Shikamaru?" Both men tensed and became visibly petrified at the sound of Yoshino Nara's voice. The woman had a look of threat upon her face as she appeared, wiping her hands to a kitchen-towel. " You'll better have a good reason to why you haven't showed up since you moved into your own house! Do you even understand how…!" And then, happened what both male's had been dreading for. A hazardous look appeared into her eyes when she spotted Temari's very much pronounced bump. " So this is why you moved out in such a hurry." The woman's voice was pure ice.
Shikaku gulped again, casting a look towards Temari. " We'll better go elsewhere. This won't be pretty."
She nodded in utter agreement.
They ended up into the house's small but comfortable living room. Although the door was closed, Temari could hear the hisses of Shikamaru's mother all too clearly. " Are you sure he'll be alright?" she found herself asking.
Shikaku grinned a bit. " Yeah. Deep down, Yoshino's far softer than she'd ever care to admit. I'm sure she'll be excited about being a grandmother." He sweatdropped upon hearing a yet another roar. " Eh… Eventually."
They sat in somewhat uncomfortable silence for a longest time, until Shikaku decided to break it. " So, you two…?" Although he was a hard-ass ninja, the man flushed.
Temari felt hotness take over her cheeks as well. " Yeah." What else was there to say?
Shikaku mused for a while. " Do you love him?"
She blinked with utter stun. In the end, her lips moved before thoughts could fully process what she was about to say. " Yeah." She blinked again, the answer just then sinking in. " Yeah, I do."
The man grinned once more. " Well, in that case… Welcome to the family." He flinched upon hearing a yet another scream. " That is, if you're willing to take the chance and join us."
Feeling her muscles relax, she just had to smirk as well. " I think it's well worth all risks."
After that, it became so silent in the hallway that Temari found herself growing alarmed. Just before she would've stood up, however, Shikamaru entered, rubbing his right, completely red ear with a wince. " We just got our permission", he announced.
Temari's smirk widened, and only the presence of Shikamaru's father and desire to maintain a piece of her dignity kept her from sprinting to the boy and throwing her arms around him. Now, they had only one obstacle ahead of them.
Her smirk faltered.
Unfortunately, that challenge was a far, far harder one.
Asking permission from Gaara.
As a ninja, Idago Himero had never expected to get to see even her fiftieth birthday. That's why the fatigue and slight pains she felt now – at the mighty age of eighty-two – didn't bother her all that much..
Pausing from her evening-walk, she was slightly surprised to see a brown-haired woman with some red paint on her cheeks stood on a tiny field right next to the path. Her heart filled with sadness when she discovered that the much younger woman was standing before two wooden crosses, one of them (with letters I and U engraved to its wood) decorated by a dark-red rose placed before it, although winter would soon kill it. " Is that someone you hold dear?" she asked in a gentle tone.
The younger one's eyes flashed with surprise and perhaps anger when darting towards her, then darkened as they were cast towards the cross again. " The father of my child."
Her heart tugged with sorrow. " Oh dear, I'm so sorry!"
" It's alright." There was something chilling in the woman's tone, yet alone upon her face. " The ones who killed him will soon be joining him."
This time, the sadness that flowed through was slightly different by its nature. " You shouldn't let anger eat away your heart. Revenge is such a lonely path." As the other didn't say a word (only stared at the cross before her with strangest eyes) and her feet finally felt ready to walk again, she begun to leave. " I hope you'll find some peace eventually. It'd be a pity if you'd end up wasting something as valuable as your life."
¨
Pretty much as soon as the old woman was gone, the younger one detected another presence. " Flowers for Itachi?" Zetsu's bemused voice sounded.
Her eyes narrowed, but she didn't dignify him with responding in any way. " So I'm getting a babysitter now?"
" Pein is getting impatient. You really should come inside – you know how… uncomfortable things get when he's in a bad mood."
She made a sound of deep irritation. " Fine. I suppose I've been delaying this for long enough already."
Neither said a word as they walked off, Zetsu humming quietly.
Behind them, wind graphed a hold of the rose she'd left behind, nudging one petal off of it.
That evening (having been discharged from hospital with strict instructions to rest and take it easy), Sasuke (who'd, much to her shock, dozed off to a couch) found her mind waking up to extremely annoying sounds of shuffling steps and frustrated muttering. In the end, there was a very un-ninja-like 'eep' and a thud, followed by sounds of something falling and silently growled curses.
Oh, she knew all too clearly what – or rather, who – was the source of that extremely infuriating commotion. She could feel a vein in her head swell until it was almost ready to pop.
She was going to strangle that damn idiot…
Coming to a grim realization that she wouldn't be getting any more sleep, she coaxed her eyes open, then allowed her gaze to travel towards the supposed direction of those noises. What she saw was so incredible that she had to blink once. Twice. Thrice. " What the hell do you think you're doing, dead-last?" he grumbled, although a part of her knew exactly.
For there, fallen to the floor, Naruto was practically buried by books about pregnancy and parenting. And Sasuke felt something swirl, melt and crack inside (although, of course, she wouldn't let such a pathetic thing show).
Naruto gave her a grumpy look, rubbing his apparently throbbing head with one hand. " I'm trying to get some sense into this whole bloody mess, teme! We've got a baby incoming, we've gotta start getting ready!"
Feeling something inside melt even further, she struggled herself up from the couch, and soundlessly walked up to help the blonde. Not a word was said nor needed as they collected the books that'd been sprawled all over the place.
For a long time, the situation went on rather harmlessly – until Sasuke suddenly realized that they were only inches apart. She lifted an eyebrow when looking at the blonde, her chest making movements that were definitely not normal as she could feel his breath against her face. " Dobe, what are…?"
At that moment, apparently, Naruto lost absolutely all traces of self-control. There was a jump in her chest, and all blood stilled in her veins when Naruto's lips were pressed against hers without even a slightest warning. Her thoughts spun completely out of control.
This was no accident, nor a drunken mistake. This time… Naruto meant it.
Shock and something she could only call sorrow formed a tight ball into her stomach.
Oh hell…
But despite all that, for just a couple of strictly forbidden moments she found herself responding, until she finally regained her senses and rapidly pulled herself away. Her chest was heaving as she stared at the equally terrified blonde before her. " Sasuke, I… I'm so sorry…!"
But Sasuke could barely hear him, because she'd already pushed herself up. And faster than she could think what she was doing she was rushing away, feeling this strangest heat behind her eyes. Once out of the house, she leaned heavily against a wall, her chest heaving so badly that her breathing became nothing but a pathetic wheeze.
At that moment, she did what a tiny part inside she detested had probably been itching to do for a longest time. Placing one hand to cover her face, she felt two silent tears break free from her steely control.
When she'd heard it was twins she was carrying, she'd thought things couldn't possibly become any more messed up and painful. Obviously, she'd been sadly mistaken.
¨
Little did she know that on the opposite side of the door, Naruto had rested his forehead and one hand against the wood. He was shivering uncontrollably as he, too, allowed a couple of tears to reveal themselves.
How the hell was he going to fix this one?!
Pein's eyes snapped open at the sound of approaching steps. A barely traceable flash passed them as he spotted the familiar brown-haired woman. " You're late", he pointed out.
Her expression wavered only slightly. " I visited a couple of old friends." Her eyes showed no emotions. " Now… Do you want information or not?"
He waved a hand, uncharacteristic impatience kicking in once more. " Go ahead and report."
" As you instructed, I took care of that other idiot before he managed to become a problem. Apparently, the other one hasn't been stupid enough to show his face around here or Konoha since. And yes, there' something… interesting you should know." Her eyes flashed. " The Uchiha brat's pregnant."
Pein found his eyebrow bouncing up. Now this certainly was interesting… " Are you absolutely sure about this?"
" Oh yes." A carnivorous gleam came to her eyes. " Do you want me to go and… collect her?"
His eyes turned thoughtful as he shook his head. " No. We can't take the risk of her losing the baby in process – another pair of Sharingan-eyes is much too valuable."
She clenched her fists. " So… We wait?"
" Yes." He watched as a small bug made its way across the floor. After a moment's thought, he squashed it with the tip of his foot. " Once the pregnancy's progressed far enough, we'll get her here. The Kyuubi-container will follow straight after once have her."
The woman nodded slowly. " What about the Eight-Tailed's container?"
" We'll get her soon enough." He removed his foot from the completely squashed insect. " Even someone like Tsunade isn't powerful enough to protect those three brats. In a matter of months both Tailed Beasts and the legendary Sharingan-eyes will be ours."
TBC??
Just in case you're wondering:
Nope, in case you're afraid, there will NOT be a romantic relationship between Hinata and Shino. Their hearts are already taken… (smirks)
And in case you've forgotten, as it was mentioned a long time ago, Sakura knows Sasuke's 'little' secret about her time running out. Poor girl's in a REALLY nasty spot!
A/N: And so the things keep heating up, huh?
As I'm in a HUGE hurry right now, I've gotta go! But before that…
A little voting. As I'm completely clueless as to what to do with the KakaxOcxIru… formation that's kept appearing, I need your advice. Which one should I pair Aika up with? Or should there be no romantic relationship at all? You decide – go ahead and let me hear you out!
And please do review – inform me of my mistakes, or whatever's on your heart! By now, you guys gotta know your opinions REALLY matter.
As for next chapter... Let's say I can hear wedding-bells ringing. (snickers)
Until next time, everyone!
Peace out!
Chibi-Chaaan: (winces) I'm a real meanie-head (okay, that was an understatement…) with my cliffies, huh? I feel so sorry for you poor readers! (Btw, would you believe that one was still far from the worst I've made? I once threw four cliffies on one chapter! I'm still stunned no one came after my head for that one!)
(sobs) Gosh, it'd be so horrible if poor Sasu-chan lost the baby – I don't think she'd make it through that in full sanity! And GOODNESS, I agree – those two boneheads should DEFINTIELY get over their damn stubbornness and FINALLY become a couple! (rips hair with frustration)
(snickers) Shika-chan's a funny little sweetheart, isn't he? (huggles – to receive a death-glare)
Again, colossal (heh, one new word per day, right?) thank yous for reviewing! 'Hope you'll stay tuned!
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VyseN: (chuckles) BADLY delayed Valentine's roses and chocolates to you, too!
I definitely agree with you – punching a pregnant girl is definitely ALMOST as low as it goes! I'm so glad I got to do some 'hurting' to the guy… (grins somewhat sadistically)
With how many story-lines there's going on, I'm thrilled you haven't ended up completely lost just yet! I've noticed that I seem to have this nasty tendency of attaching about billions different stories into a single fic.
Again, ENORMOUS thank yous for the fantastic review – I'm so glad you liked the chapter! Stay tuned, yeah?
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SilverMoon Wolf: Don't worry about the delay! As long as you're still sticking around, that's all what matters! (Besides, as I've said thousands of times before, it's always better late than never.)
(chuckles) That beginning-scene was a big-time teaser, huh? Sorry – I just couldn't resist putting it in!
(howls with laughter) Kidnap me to make never-ending fanfics, hmm? Now there's a amusing thought! (Though indeed, I seriously wish you're not that mean!) (sweatdrops with a small eep)
Once more, massive thank yous for reviewing – I'm so glad you liked the previous chapter! Stick around, yeah?
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DeathRow609: First of all, I'm so sorry – it isn't until recently I discovered that as I always have only reviews for the latest chapters revealed as I begin to comment them, your reviews became un-commented! I'm so sorry! In this one, I'm commenting you former reviews too.
First of all, I'm SO glad you've liked the way the story's been progressing (as I've been very insecure about it), not to mention like the way SasuNaru's coming out! Hooray!
(snickers) I agree completely! With Sasuke and Naruto's genes combined, the baby's gonna be a real heartbreaker!
Thank you so much for all those AMAZING reviews – and once more, I'm so sorry about this embarrassing delay of commenting! I really hope you'll be sticking around!
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Dragon77: Enormous thank yous for reviewing – I'm so glad you liked the chapter! 'Hope I'll keep seeing you around!
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swordzoro: My writing matches with addiction to something as fantastic as tic-tacks? WOW! (blushes bright red) I find it absolutely surreal and overwhelming that someone'd like something I've written that much!
I also hope poor Sasu-chan won't end up losing the baby – gosh, I don't think she'd ever survive through it in full sanity! (wipes eyes a bit) A boy, hmm? (snickers) We'll see, we'll see…
(Wanna hear a secret? I don't think I could ever actually discontinue a fic, especially since I hate it being done to stories as much as I do. Besides, with how many loyal readers this ficcy seems to have at the moment, I just couldn't do it to them.)
Once more, HUGE thank yous for the baffling review! Stick around, yeah?
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avatarofdiscord: (winces) I'm a real meanie when it comes to those cliffies of mine, aren't I? Just hang in there, 'k? I promise to do my best to not cause you poor readers to pull your hair in distress.
Thank you so much for reviewing! I hope I'll keep seeing you around!
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Miah-Chan: (cringes) Cliffies are evil little things, huh? I'm utterly surprised no one's come after my head because of them – I once put FOUR cliffies into one chapter! I'm so sorry for you poor guys!
I just love KibaxHina and SaixIno, too! (big surprise, eh?) Sai's a amusing little thing, isn't he?
Lol, I tried to figure out the most 'Shika-kun like' proposal, and that just slammed me across the face. I'm so glad you liked it!
There seems to be a bit of KakaxOCxIru –triangle in the air, hmm? Heh, feel free to take part to voting. I'm completely clueless as to where those three are headed! (sweatdrops)
(Btw, if you want to know how Asuma, Jiraiya or some of the other characters in Naruto died, let me know, ya? I might be able to give some spoilers.) (grins)
Colossal thank yous for the baffling review – I'm so glad you liked the chapter! Stay tuned, yeah?
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Kai's kitty: (pulls hair in distress) Naru-chan's a real dobe sometimes, eh?
Gosh, I agree with you – I don't think poor Sasu-chan would pull it through with full sanity if she'd end up losing the baby!
Shika-kun's a clumsy little sweetheart, isn't he? (snickers) I have to agree with you – the baby's seriously gonna have one of the hottest uncles ever!
Enormous thank yous for reviewing! 'Hope you'll be sticking around!
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CrimsonOmen: (blushes brightly) My goodness, thank you so much for the AMAZING review – it just makes my head spin that someone would like something I've written that much! (And I'm particularly proud you find the plotline original!) And special thank yous for those listings!
'Hope you'll keep looking forward for more!
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IceCreamXD: Goodness, if Sasu-chan would end up losing the baby… I don't think she'd ever make it through such! (wipes eyes a bit)
Once more, HUGE thank yous for reviewing! I really hope you'll keep looking forward for more!
