Chapter 11

Naruto was the most brilliant man alive.

Hitomi was about eighteen months now and had finally stopped chewing on things. The relief her poor father got out of his spared furniture was countered by the simple knowledge that she was done teething. In other words, her baby fangs had completely grown in. And anyone who took the time to look would notice the distinguishable points to her nails. The truth of the matter was that Hitomi was not a completely normal looking little girl and there was just no hiding this fact, especially when he possessed absolutely no genjutsu skills to cover her with.

The day had finally come when Juhi just had to comment on her appearance. He knew it was long overdue; the woman was practically family and had been holding her tongue for quite some time. But after finding two distinct puncture marks in one of her shoes, the innkeeper could no longer pretend that she didn't notice anything. So she asked him what exactly the deal was with his daughter.

His immediate response was: "Her mother was a relative of the Inuzuka clan."

And that was that.

The odd, and sometimes feral, behavior and appearance of the toddler was explained in that simple statement and everyone was willing to believe it. After all, non-ninja villages had a limited knowledge on ninja clans. The answer had come to him just after she asked the question, as though it were waiting for an opportunity to present itself this whole time. Perhaps if he had thought of it before, he could have spared himself the headache of rushing to find a house.

No matter, what was done was done and he was living comfortably with Hitomi, sending his two clones out to their respective jobs every day and spending most of his own nights working at the lodge's bar, and always with Hitomi at his side. He continued to train deep in the woods behind his house, but now he brought his daughter along as well. It was busy season for the lodge, so Juhi didn't notice their long absences during the day.

About a mile into the forest directly behind their house was a river—the very same one that ran through Konoha and probably on southward into the Gulf of Fire. It flowed down a small waterfall about forty feet high, the base of which soon became his favorite training area.

Hitomi loved to watch her father train. She loved watching him produce hundreds of clones like a magic trick and watching him fight them on top of the water. She loved watching him practice with Stick as he slowly learned proper staff-wielding through scrolls. Often times, she would tempt to mimic him; trying to kick and punch the air to the best of her ability (which always ended in her falling to the ground).

No one could deny that Hitomi was a smart baby; at only a year and a half old she knew the rules: she was allowed out in the backyard under her father's watch and was even allowed to play in the woods, but she was never to go near the river without him and needed to tell him when she was going to climb a tree. Naruto tried to get her to wear shoes when he took her outside out of the instinct to protect her little feet, but she stubbornly refused to do anything he didn't do.

Usually Naruto would train until he only had just enough time for a quick shower before he had to be at the bar, but on his nights off (which were far and few between) he took full advantage of the opportunity to relax.

At the moment, the worn out blonde was reclining on his soft couch with his feet up on the coffee table, exhausted after a long day of training and chasing Hitomi around. A year and a half of non-stop conditioning and studying left him confident enough to say that he was an extremely skilled shinobi. What he accomplished in months with his shadow clones would have taken others a lifetime, and his control over his wind-based chakra had nearly enough finesse to rival Tsunade's control over her strength. He had yet to encounter another Akatsuki since Zetsu, but everyday he had to train was another advantage for him for when the next one found him.

Unfortunately, relaxation was just out of reach for the young father as the soft pitter patter of feet alerted him to Hitomi's approach. The little girl suddenly appeared before him with a children's book the size of her torso clutched in both hands which she wordlessly lifted to his lap. Naruto winced at the claws that dug into his leg as she pulled herself up as well.

"You're supposed to be in bed," he said kindly, rubbing his sore thigh. Hitomi ignored his admission and slapped the book a couple times.

"Wead!"

"Oh? You want a story first?"

"Yah, yah!" she puffed with her tongue hanging out of her mouth a bit and bouncing on his lap. Naruto laughed and pulled her to his body, getting comfortable as he opened the picture book to the first page and leisurely began to read the easy sentences.

Hitomi hardly listened to what he was saying. She just liked the sound of his voice, sitting in his lap and looking at the pictures. Naruto was often interrupted by her admissions to each picture; though she had seen this book a hundred times she never seemed to get tired of looking at it.

"Aminah!" Hitomi yelled, pointing at the cartoon picture of a moose in a chef's hat, "Daddy! Ah Aminah!"

"An-ni-mal," Naruto pronounced slowly, "You say, animal."

"A-min-nah!" she insisted, and then forcibly turned to the next page as if that was that. Naruto grinned warmly down at her and kissed the top of her head. God help the Akatsuki if they ever got their hands on her because if he didn't kill them, she surely would.

"Ducky!"

"No…that's a doggy, Tomi. Say dog-gy."

"DUCKY! Ducky-ducky, woof woof!"

0o0o0o


0o0o0o

"Tell me Sasuke-kun, what does Naruto-kun mean to you?"

Madara's voice didn't come as a shock to Sasuke, who had known the man was lurking behind him during his meditations. After the battle in capturing the eight-tails the dark-haired man had resumed his training regimen as it had been put on the back burner in light of his travels; the Jinchuuriki had put up a fierce fight that served as a harsh reminder of the power bijuu had, Sharingan wielder or not.

"Nothing," The reply was precise, cold and unhesitating.

The aged Uchiha lingered for a moment, the single eye boring into the broad back of his only relative.

"Nothing? Your past friendship with the boy holds no influence over your feelings?"

Feeling irritated at the vexing subject that was suddenly being thrust upon him, Sasuke opened his eyes.

"I cut my bonds with him a long time ago. I hold nothing but contempt for him, now."

The smile that curled scarred lips went unseen behind the mask.

"Good."

And then he left, leaving Sasuke to ponder what that could possibly mean.

Madara swiftly entered another chamber within his vast, underground cavern and arrived just in time to hear Konan and Pein talking.

"—has not returned for some time now. Do you think he has abandoned our cause?" it was the woman's voice that he heard as he walked under the dim lighting, and of whom she was talking about he already knew.

"No, I do not. Something must have happened to him—ah, Madara-sama...we were just discussing the whereabouts of Zetsu," Pein had turned away from his childhood friend to address his superior appropriately. Madara waived him off impatiently.

"Never mind that for now. We need to find the last Jinchuuriki. This delay is unacceptable. Though I must confess, I have a gut feeling that the nine-tails child is behind our friend's disappearance over the last few months."

Pein frowned and shared a furtive look with his blue-haired partner. There was something innately threatening about his deceased sensei's last student—even just the mention of him—that often left him feeling irked. For no one should be able to disturb a god, especially a child abomination.

"Is Sasuke-san opening up?" he asked as a change of subject.

"Slowly," Madara nodded, "but surely. It is most fortunate for us that the emotional and psychological damage his brother had done works well to our advantage. His actions have left him with nothing and no one, save for his ragtag group of Sound-castoffs. There is no reason for him not to join us permanently; and there is no chance of him rejoining Konoha."

"Perhaps he can aid us in capturing the last Jinchuuriki," Konan suggested stoically.

"Oh yes," the Uchiha agreed, "There is no doubt in my mind that he will help us bring about the downfall of Konoha...and Uzumaki."

0o0o0o


0o0o0o

"Tsunade-shishou!" Sakura shrieked upon entering the Hokage's office with Ino at her side, "Are you drunk?!"

"For Christ's sake it's only two in the afternoon, ya lush!" her inner screamed with a shaking fist.

Shizune had been sick as of late and had asked both girls to cover for her at the hospital while handling some of her assistant duties as well. Neither Chuunin had any objection to the request; they had planned on speaking to Tsunade anyhow in hopes of getting a mission outside of the village. Things had been very quiet around Konoha as of late and they were growing rather restless for some action. On the way over they had bumped into Shino, who had asked that they put in a request for him as well, for he too was bored. After all, a lack of missions led to antsy ninja, and antsy ninja often ended with countless repairs of public facilities and unhappy tax payers.

While the two girls were expecting to see a few unfinished reports piled around the desk when they entered the spacious room, they were not prepared to find the Hokage flushed and swaying on her chair with a sake cup in hand.

"Pshh, Sakura you are so priggish. You worry too much!" Tsunade drawled, guzzling down the rest of her drink.

"P-priggish?!" If it weren't for the fact that this was her mentor, the Sannin who could probably crush her head between two fingers, she would have belted the woman.

Stifling a giggle, Ino stepped in front of Sakura before the girl's temper could prompt any rash actions.

"Ah, Shizune-sempai asked us to remind you that Homura-sama and Koharu-sama are expecting you," she recited.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," the woman mumbled irritably, standing up with far more grace than one would anticipate from someone who just downed half a bottle of sake, "Why do you think I've already started drinking? I've got to be—to be sharp for this..."

Sakura (who was still a bit red in the face) and Ino shared a look.

"Shishou, what could they possibly have to discuss with you that you need to be drunk for?" The pinkette questioned, forgetting her anger for the moment.

Tsunade waved her off as she walked by her, "Never you mind. I'll be back in a few. Hopefully this doesn't take too long..."

The two girls watched the buxom blonde leave the office, missing the door handle the first time she attempted to open it.

"It's a miracle she gets anything done," Ino commented once she was gone, "Aw crap! We forgot to ask for a mission!"

Sakura shrugged, "It's alright. We can just wait here for her. She said she would be back soon anyway..."

"Hey," Ino said with a devious grin, "You know what we should do? We should hide all her sake!"

"Ino!" Sakura gasped at the very suggestion, "No!"

"Oh, come on!" the blonde argued, "You know Shizune-sempai has been meaning to do that forever. This is the perfect opportunity!"

Sakura remained steadfast in her refusal.

"No way! I'm not going in there! She'll kill me! Especially if she finds all her sake gone!"

"She's not even here and everyone knows that she keeps it in the drawer with the lock."

"Yeah, and everybody knows better than to go anywhere near that drawer."

"But sempai even said we had permission to go in there before, remember? No important documents in with the sake."

"No Ino," Sakura said firmly.

"Tsunade-sama was right; you are priggish," Ino teased while sticking out her tongue.

"Wh-why you—! Fine, move over," Sakura marched around to the back of the desk, pulling out a pin from her side pouch and biting it into a more malleable shape.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Ino cheered. Sometimes Sakura was just too easy to manipulate.

"Ugh, be quiet before you draw someone's attention to us. Go keep watch over the door."

"Fine, fine..."

Ino walked over to the thick wooden doors and pressed her ear against it, listening for any indication that someone was approaching. The most she could make out was the slightly muffled garble of some Chuunins passing by in the hall, but none appeared to be heading in their direction.

"What's taking you so long, Forehead?" she asked after a long moment of hearing nothing.

"Hold your horses, Pig," Sakura grunted, jiggling the wire a bit more, "This is ridiculous—grr—the only drawer we're allowed in and it's the only one locked. I almost—ugh—got it..."

A barely audible click was heard by both young women as the drawer unlocked.

"Sweet!" Ino giggled, remaining at her station by the door while Sakura began to dig out all of the bottles, "Shizune is going to love us for this! You know what we should do? We should just take them to Kiba's or something and have a party."

"Ino, from what I hear you and Kiba shouldn't be mixed with alcohol," Sakura grinned, pulling out bottle after bottle of sake. Honestly, how much could one woman drink?

The hand buried deep inside the drawer paused as it brushed a firm piece of paper on the bottom. Her nails scraped against the wood as she curiously picked it up, turning it over to see that it was a photo.

She didn't notice Ino's face flush red from her earlier comment.

"That is so low Sakura! You know I was drunk! As if I would ever touch that flea-bitten, mangy—hey...Forehead...are you even listening to me?"

Ino realized that she could no longer hear the clanking of bottles being moved, everything had suddenly gone quiet and still. All she could see was the top of a pink head poking up from behind the desk, completely motionless.

"Sakura?"

She stood, making her way across the office and around to where her friend was kneeling with a bowed head. There was something in her hand.

"Sakura, what...?"

Leaning over her shoulder, Ino got a good look at what had captivated the medical prodigy so much. It was a photo—a photo of...

"Th-that's—!"

"...Naruto," Sakura finished in a whisper, her eyes glued to the little girl in his arms. She could feel tears burning at the corners of her eyes and she didn't bother to begin to wonder why she was suddenly so distressed. It had taken a while, but, little by little, Sakura had moved on from being left behind by both of her teammates. Without Naruto, finding Sasuke seemed just about impossible. In fact, it seemed downright pointless, especially now that the last Uchiha had lost all hope of returning to Konoha.

She had found other things to occupy her time; she now had a steady job at the hospital, interrupted by the occasional B-ranked mission, and found substantial time to hang out with her friends. It was the life she had imagined she would lead when she first decided to become a ninja. Over the last year or so she had felt more and more like a normal Kunoichi that was enjoying her youth rather than a lost girl caught up in a whirlwind of S-class missing-nins and demons. She had finally accepted that the last Jinchuuriki would no longer be a significant component of her world for a quite a while and she was just starting to enjoy the normalcy that her life had settled into.

And then Naruto popped back in again. Not even in person; just his face seemed to be enough to send her through the loop with a long forgotten feeling of heartsick tightening in her breast. He had a baby. There was simply no way for her to get around this; that child had to be his. Same eyes, same shade of blonde hair, and the whiskers, of course...

"Naruto has a kid!?" Ino screeched so close to Sakura's ear that the girl shrieked herself in surprise. "That guy has a kid?! Let me see that! I don't believe this!"

Ino snatched the picture from Sakura's unwilling hands, ignoring the halfhearted protest.

"I don't believe this," the blonde repeated, holding one hand to her forehead as she stared at the picture in her other. "He...he's really...and that...Oh...oh my god..."

"What?" Sakura asked, pushing herself up on shaky legs. Her whole body seemed to have gone numb and the only thing she could feel was the uncomfortable twisting in her stomach, making her nauseous. Ino looked at her with her mouth agape.

"Sakura, remember the day he disappeared?"

"Yeah, I do..." she remembered not seeing him for a couple weeks, his odd behavior, his apartment being burned down...Kisame's body was supposedly in there as well...

"Sakura...that day...in the maternity ward..."

Pink eyebrows rose in understanding.

"He was there because that must have been when the baby was born!" Sakura deducted. She wanted to look away from the photo, to not have to see the same crooked grin accompanied by a different set of wizened eyes that seemed to bore into her. Without even speaking to him she could tell that he was a different person; his eyes just said it all...they always had, "But...what happened to the mother?"

"I remember he was crying a lot in the hospital," Ino mumbled, frowning as she looked at the picture again, trying to overlay the distraught face from her memory over the grinning young man before her, "he couldn't even seem to talk, he was so upset. Do you think...you think something happened to her?"

Sakura wracked her brain as she thought back, the wheels behind that large forehead turning.

"Well...Kisame was in his home, remember? And...and he was being so weird for a couple weeks before the attack...and that attack was planned by the Akatsuki...oh no! Kisame must have gotten her! That's why his body was found in the apartment! And—and the secret of the shadow clones! That's why Naruto ran away from the battle! He wasn't running away! He was running to her!"

Ino took a step back from the sudden outburst.

"Whoa, whoa! Back up, Forehead! What secret of the shadow clones? What are you talking about?"

Sakura's shock over discovering Naruto's secret was pushed to the back of her mind for the briefest of moments as the excitement of the puzzle pieces falling into place drove her into lecture mode.

"When one of Naruto's shadow clones dispels he gets all the memories that they experienced. If he left a clone with the mother when he ran off to fight, and then Kisame came and attacked him...when the shadow clone dispelled he knew that she was in trouble and went to save her."

"That would explain why he left so suddenly," Ino said to herself, "And why no one happened to run into him much for those weeks beforehand if he was with the mother..."

They lapsed into silence, the sake bottles around their feet forgotten as they both stared at the picture again.

"So...you think he's been raising her all this time? All by himself?" Ino asked finally, leaking out a bit of worry at the suggestion. It would have been awful for Naruto to experience all that without the help of his friends; she certainly wouldn't have been able to handle that kind of stress and responsibility couple together. Although, concern aside, she had to admit, now that the completely blindsiding shock had died down a bit she was starting to admire the picture for what it was: a handsome young man with a cherubic looking baby.

"Maybe..." Sakura mumbled, her thoughts unknowingly following Ino's as she continued to survey the picture in their hands. "I can't honestly say. But I hope not. I don't want to think he has been all alone this whole time trying to raise a kid on his own. He's had it hard enough as it is..."

Another silence reigned over their heads as they each tried to absorb the contents of the picture as best they could while struggling to collect themselves after such a harsh shock.

"She is really adorable," Ino commented about the baby after another moment.

"Yeah she is..."

"And Naruto looks pretty sexy."

"Yeah he does..."

"..."

"..."

"...I can't believe you just said that."

"I can't believe you just said that. You said it first."

"You agreed."

"Damn it."

0o0o0o


0o0o0o

"We have just caught wind of the Hachibi being captured. I am sure you knew of this before hand," Homura announced coolly to his advisee, leaning back into the couch he and his teammate often occupied when addressing Tsunade. Once again, the man found himself wishing for the strength and powered he once harbored in his youth; the aggravating woman may be halfway through her fifties but she acted like some upstart Jounin most of the time, one that needed to be knocked down a few pegs.

His thought was proven correct as she let out an unladylike snort and crossed her arms.

"Of course I did. I just didn't want to hear you two yapping my ear off again about locating Naruto," the Hokage groused, refusing to look ashamed for intentionally keeping her council uninformed. She had received the update about the Hachibi from Naruto months ago.

"He is the last Jinchuuriki," Koharu responded with annoyance, "The single element that is keeping this terrorist group from furthering their ambitions. You have to understand the position we are in with Madara at the head of Akatsuki. There is no doubt in my mind that he will take Konoha out first. You knew the hatred that he held for your grandfather."

Of course Tsunade knew; the concerning issue crossed her mind many times and often left her yearning for Naruto to return to them from wherever he was. The tables had turned in the last couple of years and it was getting to the time where Konoha wasn't safe without him around.

"Tch. Of course I do," she answered as calmly as she could, "But have a little faith in Naruto; he's not going to let himself get caught so easily. He did defeat the one that found him didn't he? And the information we learned from Zetsu's body was invaluable."

Thanks to Yamanaka Inoichi, they now knew more about Akatsuki than any other major village reconnoitering the organization.

"Regardless, he will now have the entire organization after him, including Madara," Homura replied. "And while it is beneficial that Konoha isn't in the line of fire at the moment, the consequences for our village will be far more severe if they do capture him. Without him with us we can't know what our position is—we need him back in Konoha."

Tsunade closed her eyes against the persistent pounding in her left temple that had been plaguing her for quite some time now.

"And am I to believe Danzo agrees with this?"

Homura and Koharu were both silent and grim faced. The message was clear to the buxom blonde: Danzo was perfectly fine with Naruto not being in Konoha, he just wanted to know where the boy was so that the appropriate tabs could be kept on him. It was no secret between the three of them that the old war-hawk's views on what was best for the village were deviating from their own more and more as of late.

"Heh, I understand," Tsunade said with no uncertain amount of rancor, "But what would you have me do? I don't even know where he is and I have no way to contact him—that was the whole point of this mission in the first place. He has effectively disappeared and taken out the Akatsuki's recon man. At the moment there's no immediate threat, but I do recognize the need to secure his safety."

"So you are saying there is nothing we can do but sit and wait for him to return?" Koharu asked. At the nod she received she added, "And what are the conditions of his return?"

Tsunade looked out the window and sighed, "Whenever he feels strong enough."

"Strong enough for what?"

"Strong enough to protect our village from Akatsuki."

Homura and Koharu shared a weary look.

"That would take him far too long," Koharu argued, "He's been gone two years already and we don't have that kind of time on our hands. We may just be at the brink of war, Tsunade. We need him."

"Especially if Akatsuki will be using the bijuu they collected," Homura added, "he would be the only one with the power to match them."

Tsunade stood and straightened out her jacket with dismissive jerks of her hands. The alcohol that was running through her system had metabolized, leaving her in a more unforgiving state of sobriety.

"You'd be surprised how much he can accomplish in little time," she said, heading for the door, "I'll keep you posted from now on when I receive any word from him."

She left the room before they could protest to her leaving. The situation that Konoha was placed in was an unfortunate one indeed, and she hated being reminded of it. The two old farts held some very good points about why Naruto needed to be back in Konoha, but what did they think she could do about it? What good was it to continue to scold her for sending him off on the mission in the first place? Granted, they didn't know all the details, but she doubted that would have made a difference to their one-track minds.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts a bit. Perhaps she was being too biased. She was the Hokage; she was supposed to put the village's needs above all else for the greater good, yet she was allowing her sensei's old teammates to nag her about such businesses while she appeared to favor Naruto.

The door to her office swung open and her body froze beneath the frame as her eyes surveyed the state her office was in.

"Sakura! Ino!" she barked, looking at all her sake bottles lying out on the floor, "What is the meaning of this?"

She was surprised to find that neither girl reacted very apologetically or frightened by her sharp tone. Instead they gave her blank and weary looks, and in the case of Sakura, a hint of anger.

"Tsunade-sama, we apologize," Ino started out slowly, shooting a sideways glance at her accomplice, "We were just going to hide your sake bottles since you weren't acting very professional. But instead...instead we found..."

Tsunade's eyes followed Ino's gaze to the photo in Sakura's hand and she understood at once. Swallowing, and knowing that she had, in some sense, failed Naruto, she shut the door behind her firmly.

"I suppose you'd like some answers," she began and stepped over the clutter of alcohol to reach her desk. Sakura clutched the picture a little tighter.

"Why shishou?" she asked in a strangled whisper. Now that she had all but solved the mystery her teammate, her emotions were let loose once again as she struggled to come to terms with everything the picture implied, "All this time—I was so scared that something happened to him and all along you've...you've known?"

Why did she feel so betrayed?

Tsunade exhaled though her nose and plopped down in her chair, though not before picking up one of the bottles from the ground, uncorking it and taking a long, warranted swig.

"It's not that simple," she replied, "There was nothing about this mess that was simple. The S-class mission he was sent on had multiple objectives: train to take out the Akatsuki, raise his daughter while keeping her existence under wraps, and keep from being discovered by the Akatsuki until he deems himself powerful enough to protect the village from the organization."

Ino's eyebrows rose as she went over everything she just heard and muttered, "No wonder it's S-class..."

There were parts of it that the blonde didn't understand, of course, but she did know that training to become as powerful, if not more so, than the Akatsuki was a feat in itself, let alone disappearing from them while raising a child.

"B-but...but why wouldn't he say anything before?" Sakura continued, sounding desperate to figure out why she had to be left out of everything, "We were teammates—best friends! You—you don't hide having a kid from your best friend!"

"Not even I knew until the day he came into the hospital with a woman in labor in his arms," Tsunade mollified, "Apparently he was afraid that I would try to take the baby from him if anyone found out about her. I must admit, while at the time I denied it, I can see why he would believe that."

"Yeah," Ino agreed, "I still can't believe you trusted Naruto to raise a kid on his own. Don't you think that was dangerous? For the baby, too, I mean."

Sakura thought Ino brought up a good point and nodded her agreement.

"Naruto lives off of ramen and can barely keep his apartment clean," she added, "What gave you the idea that he would change just for a baby?"

"When it comes to himself, Naruto is pretty lax on his own care," Tsunade agreed,
"but he always does what he can to make other people happier. That was one reason. Another was because this was his first chance at a real family, something he wanted even more than becoming Hokage; I could tell that he wanted nothing but the best for his daughter—even if it meant breaking bad habits.

"You should have seen the look on his face when he first held her; it wasn't just a baby, Sakura, it was his baby. And Naruto is fiercely protective of her. It was his idea to leave for both the baby and the village's protection. He thought of the entire mission contents in a few minutes and pretty much forced my hand at making it official. Personally, I'm surprised we've made it this far without everything falling to pieces."

"But leaving? Just up and leaving the village?" Ino asked, having as much trouble as Sakura with comprehending all the sudden and outlandish information, "wouldn't it have been better here in the village? We could have protected them!"

Tsunade shook her head.

"There are too many factors that neither of you two are aware of and some of which I'm not at liberty to speak about. Just know that what happened to Kensha—the mother of the child—traumatized him like I've never seen before and having a child brought back painful memories of his own past. He was desperate and afraid and had very little time to collect himself before he had to act. Though, all things considered, he managed himself rather well, thinking of that mission so suddenly."

"Naruto could always think on his feet. It's the planning ahead that he has a problem with," Ino laughed humorlessly.

Sakura bit her lip, having an idea as to what those memories of his entailed, "He's been through worse though, hasn't he? I mean, he always bounces back...he's Naruto...he was okay when he left, right?"

Somehow, she already knew the answer was exactly what she feared it would be.

"Sakura," Tsunade said pityingly, "you really have no idea what this did to him...I don't think I'd ever seen him so terrified. And it wasn't just at the prospect of being a father; that's not even the half of it. When Kensha died he lost faith in his own abilities to protect others, which was a huge problem since now he had a child to protect. Kensha was under his protection and she was killed—most brutally, might I add—and the baby was almost killed. He came that close to losing everything and even now, years later, he's still struggling. In addition to that I believe having the child had shaken him because it revived some of the...harder...times in his childhood. He didn't trust anybody, not me, and not even himself."

"He also has Akatsuki after him..." Sakura pointed out softly. She felt increasingly terrible as more and more of the carefully guarded details came to light. Hearing about the internal anguish Naruto had been going through alone, and without any of his friends knowing, made her feel like she failed him—both as a teammate and a friend. And to think she was content to live a normal teenaged life when Naruto was facing more and more hardships every day.

"Precisely," Tsunade said, "And they have demonstrated that they have no qualms about hurting his family. So that is what called for the S-class mission."

"Why...?" Ino asked.

"I just told you," Tsunade sounded exasperated after just finishing her dialogue. She uncorked the sake bottle and took another swig from the neck, not caring for the impression she was leaving on the two girls.

"No," Ino shook her head, "I mean...why is the Akatsuki after Naruto?"

She was met with a pregnant silence, leaving her confused as to the hidden implications that may lie in her question and aware of its potential significance.

"That is something only Naruto can tell you," the Hokage answered carefully, making brief eye contact with her apprentice. Though, even as she said it she realized that he may never get the opportunity. At the rate things were going now, she herself was probably going to have to reveal to the younger generation of ninjas the details of why the village is being targeted by the Akatsuki. Naruto was old enough to protect himself now, making the third's law void in her eyes; it was high time she started prioritizing the village above him like a true Hokage should.

"He'll be answering to a lot more than that," Sakura promised drawing her shaking hand into a clenched fist.

Now that she had all the facts straight, the young medic-nin began to fall back into a more comfortable and familiar emotion—anger. The last twenty minutes had been extremely upsetting to her. She felt hurt—most likely because Naruto didn't trust her enough to tell her about his daughter—as well as guilty for thinking poorly of him when he was facing so many adversities with no support. She didn't like how she felt at the moment—confused, sick, remorseful, deceived...

What she found especially frightening was the prospect that some of these emotions conflicting within her were due to knowing that Naruto was with a woman, leaving her behind in yet another sense. After all, why should she care what he got up to while he was away? Thinking of him being intimate with a girl should not have left the back of her throat uncomfortably raw and acrid. She dealt with such conflict through anger because it was the only way she knew how to. It was just easier to find an outlet to relieve her of her inner turmoil rather than brood over it.

"You will not give him a hard time when he returns, Sakura," Tsunade said sharply, already knowing what was going through the girl's head. Sakura and Ino stared at her; not once before had Tsunade protested Sakura giving Naruto a piece of her mind. She usually encouraged the discipline, whether it was warranted or not.

"But—but, Shishou! He got a girl pregnant!" she stressed and even as she said the word her face got a little red. She knew he had a kid now, but it just occurred to her how that happened...

"Again, that wasn't entirely his fault—" she held up a hand as both young women opened their mouths to protest, "What I mean is, while Naruto shouldn't have been having sex at that age," now Ino was blushing along with Sakura, "He was responsible enough to make sure Kensha was on birth control. He couldn't have foreseen the...the complications with that."

"C-complications?" Ino prompted, intrigued as to how the birth control would have failed.

Tsunade thought carefully on how to word the explanation, "Because of Naruto's unique...regenerative abilities and extraordinary immune system, the birth control was rendered useless against him."

"Wow!" Ino gasped, her eyes widening just a smidge as she sent Sakura a meaningful look, "I didn't know he had those! Is that like a bloodline thingy?"

"It is," Tsunade answered, staring right at her student so that she would get the message, "He would be the first, but it appears his daughter has inherited them as well so it is definitely in his genetics."

Sakura understood; the Kyuubi would have an influence through Naruto's line of descendents. She looked down at the picture in her hand again, focusing on the thin whisker marks that adorned the little girl's cheeks.

"He is not the irresponsible little boy you think he is," Tsunade continued and Sakura looked away from the picture to see honey-brown eyes focused on her, "If anything I wish he still was that same carefree, goofy little kid. But he was hurt greatly by what happened and he doesn't need you stirring up trouble when he has enough drama in his life."

Sakura lowered her eyes, properly berated.

"Yes Shishou."

Ino frowned, glancing at the picture in Sakura's limp hand.

"So is that it?" she asked, "we just keep our mouths shut and wait for Naruto to come back?"

"You'll do more than keep your mouths shut," Tsunade replied with a hard look in her eye, "This mission is so secret that I am not even allowed to know where he is. You are not to talk about this at all, not even in the privacy of your own homes to each other, not even in this room unless I speak of it first. Naruto shouldn't even be brought up in conversation. As for going through my drawers, you will each be limited to two weeks of D-rank missions."

Both girls winced, each feeling that it was a rather harsh punishment for ninja of their caliber. Tsunade hid a grin behind her hand, subtly fishing around in her sake drawer for the other picture she kept. Despite the potential risk to Naruto's mission, she now had someone to show off her pictures too.

"However," both girls lifted their heads, seeing the new photo she waved in her hand, "If he does happen to send anymore photos you are welcome to see them."

As she said this she handed the picture over to Ino; the one with Naruto and his baby sleeping, belly to belly.

"Awww! That is so cute!" Ino squealed, bringing her face close to the laminated surface and squinting at the snoozing duo. "How long ago was this?"

"I believe Hitomi was about a month old," the woman replied, smiling at the silly blushes both girls had across their cheeks at this point.

"That's her name?" Sakura asked, managing to tear her eyes away from the moment on film to glance at her teacher, "Hitomi?"

"Mmm," Tsunade hummed, "Apparently, the story behind that was that Kensha was hoping the baby would inherit Naruto's eyes. And she did."

"He does have really beautiful eyes," Sakura commented softly, almost nostalgically, bringing the more recent photo up into the light. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop her eyes from wandering over to Naruto's face and raking over the defined and aged features. It was almost sad how mature he looked for his age; especially considering he had always been the baby of their group of friends.

"Oh yeah," Ino agreed, staring back at the two pairs of cerulean blue, "And she totally did get them too. Lucky girl. Ooooh, I can't wait for him to get back!"

Sakura looked taken aback by the sudden—and shrill—declaration.

"Ino?"

"I want to see the baby soooo bad now! And I bet he's a great dad, you can totally tell by these pictures," the blonde yakked, waving the picture in her hand a bit and building up her excitement. Tsunade smiled warmly at her, the mind-walker earning a few brownie points for her favorable statements.

"And it's just so cool that he can regenerate! I can't believe I never knew that! I don't think our friends do either...I wonder why he never said anything before? Why didn't you say anything before, Billboard-brow? Oh well, it's still cool—especially the fact that he has super-sperm."

Tsunade snorted into her sake bottle while Sakura blanched and stumbled against the desk, "I-Ino!"

Her friend laughed at the klutzy motion, "Oh, please, Forehead. You know you were thinking it too. Kind of a pity though...he'll be stuck using condoms unless he wants more kids."

Tsunade laughed outright—half at the proclamation and half at Sakura's deep red face.

"W-what are you even saying? Stop saying stuff like that about Naruto!"

"Oh, what do you care about it?" Ino asked her appraisingly, "You made it obvious you're not interest in him."

Sakura gaped at her.

"Th-that—that wasn't even—!"

"Alright, alright," Tsunade cut in, wanting to avoid a pointless spat in her office while wondering at the lengths teenage girls would go to just to piss each other off. "You two, out of here. I'm expecting you both to report here tomorrow morning for your first D-ranked mission."

"Yes Hokage-sama," they chorused together.

"Don't forget to tell us about anymore updates!" Ino said cheekily as she bowed and left the room.

Sakura bowed as well before storming out of the office, no doubt to catch up to Ino and give her a proper piece of her mind.

Tsunade shook her head bemusedly as she began to load up her next glass of sake. Maybe Naruto was safer out of Konoha.

0o0o0o


0o0o0o

And the truth is out!

Sorry about the delay, my beta has gone MIA and I was whisked away to Ithaca for the weekend. Nooooo more wine for me.

For those who were wondering, the thing with Hachibi/Killerbee is going to follow cannon as well; I'm just making so that the Akatsuki was thoroughly deceived...for the moment.

I don't know if Ino and the other's know about Naruto's 'condition'. After all, he had to tell Sakura after time skip, so she obviously didn't know, and yet when he prances around with his demonly features and its common knowledge that the Akatsuki are targeting him specifically, no one seems to ask any questions. Not to mention Shippuuden totally fucks with your mind in respects to that. Ah well.

Thank you all soooooo much for the reviews! I was totally blown away by them (and yes, that review button works splendidly as it turns out, but I think we need to keep it working just in case).

Next chap: The Uzumaki family gets a new family member.

Release your excitement on the big green button!