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Ten!
"Alright, I'm coming to find you Shan-kun!" I said removing my hands from my eyes. I walked around the backyard looking for my son. He was very good at hiding himself. He must have inherited that from me. Hinata wouldn't let me run around or I would have run after him. I wasn't even supposed to be walking around this much. I felt a dull pain in my ribs but ignored it as I spotted my son. I crept up behind him and hugged him. "Found ya!" He laughed and I began tickling him. He laughed even harder. He started to squirm and I just kept on tickling him. He kicked my chins and I let go after a couple of minutes of tickling him, I let stopped.
"That wasn't funny Tou-san!" Shan stood there with his arms crossed over his chest and pouting.
"You know it was Shan-musuko," I laughed as Hinata walked up to us.
"Naruto-kun, you shouldn't be walking around this much," I shrugged and poked Shan in the side.
"Hey!" He pouted. He poked me back and I poked him. We began a poking war.
I was in mid-poke when Hinata interrupted us, "You two are worse than two five year olds."
"Well Hinata-chan, Shan-musuko isn't much older than five."
"I'm seven!"
"Exactly, you're only two years older than five."
Hinata sighed. "Dinner is ready you two."
"Ramen?" I asked hopefully.
"Yes but you aren't allowed to eat five bowls for a while." Hinata said taking my hand.
"Fine. Can I have three?"
"No."
"Two...?"
"Maybe." Hinata smiled walking inside. She was following Tsunade's rule to close. I was aware that I wasn't allowed to eat as much as I use to but still, I was a grown man. Two bowls weren't going to fill ,e up.
XxXxXx
"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. It had been three weeks since Shan and I played hide-and-seek. It had been two weeks since we were married. We were both laying in bed in each other's arms.
"Hmmm?"
Hinata paused before asking, "Will you ever tell me what happened?"
I sighed knowing this was going to come up soon. "Yes." It wasn't fair to keep my wife out of the loop. She needed to know what had happened during those eight years I was gone.
"Will you tell me now?" Hinata asked hopeful.
"No."
"Why not?"
"I'm not ready."
"Please?"
I kissed her forehead. "No Hinata-chan. You have to be patient."
"Naruto-kun, I was patient. I waited for eight years before I saw you again. I waited patiently."
"I know."
"The day I found out you were a Prisoner of War, I was a mess. I went into shock. Which hadn't been good because a couple days later, I found out I was pregnant with Shan."
"I know. I saw it."
"What? How?" Hinata had confusion and shock in her voice.
"The Kyuubi. He had a jutsu that could let my spirit go anywhere. I was in the room when Tsunade told you."
Hinata looked up at me. "I can't believe this..."
"I was within an arm's reach."
"Why didn't you do anything?"
"Because I couldn't touch anyone. I first went to your room and I tried to hug you but I went right through you..." I remembered that day and everything that happened. Both of the meetings. The day I was beat. The first of many times I was beat. Hinata rubbed my stomach and I couldn't feel it. I had lost all feeling in my stomach from the nerve damage that had been done. "You know I can't feel that."
"I know."
"They why are you rubbing my stomach?"
"Because it makes me feel safe and I know that you are really there."
I smiled and kissed her forehead. I let her rub my stomach and I feel asleep with her rubbing my stomach.
XxXxXx
"Tou-san!" I felt Shan jump on the bed before I opened my eyes.
"Yes?"
"Can we train today?"
"I would love to but I can't. You know that." I said sadly. I hated not being able to train with him. Soon I would be able to. "How about you and Mommy train and I'll watch the two of you?"
"Can Mizu come over and train too?" Mizu was Shan's cousin and best friend.
"I don't care. You have to ask Uncle Neji first." I sat up and he crawled into my lap.
"Tou-san, when will you be able to train with me?" There was a sad look on his face.
"I don't know."
"Why were you gone for eight years?" Shan asked looking away from me.
I knew Hinata had told him about me but does he really know what happened? "I was fighting."
"Then why were you almost dead when you came back home?"
I sighed. This wasn't something I wanted to talk about with my seven year old son. "Shan-musuko, I was captured but the Sound-nin. You know who the Sound-nin are right?" He nodded. Every child from birth had been taught that the Sound ninja were there enemies. "They were the ones who had captured me for eight years. They are the reason why I wasn't around."
Shan nodded. I wasn't sure if he actually understood. "Are you here forever now?"
"Yes, Shan-musuko, forever."
