Disclaimer: Juubi no Shinju does not own much. I'm just a mid-class citizen! Yes I'm dramatic, my family hates it when I do that! XD

World 2 Scene 8: Father and Son

"We got a possible security breach" an ANBU yelled as the four entered the Mission office and within moments, twelve ANBU bum rushed the members of Team Seven, pushing Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi out of the way while dog piling Naruto and Beel. "We need to do a cavity search!" another called, already wearing a rubber glove as he appeared.

Two ANBU moved, revealing the boy's kicking feet and allowing the glove wearing ninja to approach and pull down the teens white shorts and underwear before going in with three fingers…

"What the hell?!" Naruto shouted. The others grimaced and turned green at what was happening.

'Looks like the ANBU are getting their revenge.' Kakashi thought with a sweatdrop. He knew several ANBU and jonin who had fallen prey to Naruto's pranks, and many wished revenged on the blonde. He just hoped none of them went as far as to do...this!

Looking out from around Kakashi, Naruto grimaced, "Ew… that looks painful."

Everyone blinked. Wait, if he was there, then...

Every head in the room snapped over to the blond before looking over to the pile of ANBU holding who they thought had been Naruto only to realize that the teen with three fingers up the bum was actually Sasuke Uchiha.

The Uchiha was slack jawed, his eye twitching. "What...the...HELL?!" He screamed, his face red in rage...and embarrassment at the fact his counterpart was...violated.

"HAHAHA!" Sasuke glared deathly at the laughing forms of Naruto, Anko, and Kiba.

"Shut up!" He shouted at them. How dare they laugh at his humiliation! He then switched his glare to the ANBU in the scene. He would make them pay!

"Oh…" Exclaimed the ANBU penetrating the teen, "Whoops…"

One by one the ANBU team got off of the boy, revealing a twitching, blue in the face Uchiha with foam coming out of his mouth and a suspicious blush on his blue face.

Getting a hold on her laughter, Anko saw that and raised a suspicious brow. "Hmmm..."

"Sorry about that," the ANBU exclaimed, "Our bad!"

One by one the team called out "Our bad!" then vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Sasuke bare and exposed on the floor of the Mission office with his team looking away… well the males were.

"Okay," Tenten said as she looked away and covered her eyes. "I did not need to see that." She got nods of agreement from the others as they all looked away from the exposed...posterior of A-Sasuke.

Even Ino, formerly a fangirl was Sasuke, was not willing to see such a sight as she looked away. She glanced over at Sakura, to see her reaction. But once again, the pink haired kunoichi was still in her quiet state, making her frown. What A-Naruto had said had really shook her friend up.

"This is a side of him I never wanted to see…" Kakashi muttered, raising his porn book up in front of his face to shield his eyes from the boy.

Naruto covered Beel's eyes and turned his head, "Anyone find it strange that he didn't scream?" he questioned with Beel nodding behind his hand and Sakura frozen in shock, not only was she able to see a side of the teen that even Sasuke wasn't able to naturally look at, but she witnessed him be violated… the horror.

Anko grinned widely, but reframed from saying anything or laughing. It looked like she was the only one who had picked up on that tee bit information. No, wait, looks like Hokage and the Nara brat also knew by their smirks.

She chuckled. Hehehe! Blackmail material!

Naruto knew that they had been trying to get revenge on him for that time when Beel electrocuted them, so that's why every time he entered the Hokage's office he was prepared to replace himself with the Uchiha. For the last few days he'd been ready for it and his paranoia just paid off!

Sasuke glared hard at Naruto, who just chuckled sheepishly. He would get him back for that, Sasuke swore!

"So…" Kakashi started, trying to ignore the still unmoving Sasuke, "About that next mission."

"Hmm…" Hiruzen thought, tapping his pipe with a finger, "Well we do have a few available, babysitting a councilors three-year old, helping his wife with shopping, digging potatoes…"

"Daaaaaa…" droned Baby Beel, making the Hokage look up to Naruto's son who was now staring at him with narrowed eyes and pulsing red tick marks, a look that Naruto mirrored with ease.

Iruka flinched, from what he's learned so far, you do not piss of the electric bomb that was A-Naruto's son.

"… But I'm pretty sure you're all ready for a low C-rank mission." he quickly added, making the others blink while Naruto and Beel returned to normal.

Iruka, who'd been helping with mission assignments spun around, "Hokage-sama, you must be joking! They're not ready yet!"

Naruto huffed. Iruka was always ruining his fun, and it looked like his alternate counterparts were the same.

The Chunin then launched into a long, practiced speech about the mission ranking system, how each request was carefully recorded, analyzed, then ranked A, B, C, or D depending on the skills needed then were given to the ninja possessing said skills and experience then remarked that upon completion of a mission, the village received a fee to support their work. How ninja were also ranked similar with the Hokage at the top, then Jounin, Chunin, and Genin at the bottom.

"Zzzz..."

Iruka's eye twitched he glared at the sleeping forms of Naruto, Konohamaru, Shikamaru, and Kiba. 'Ungrateful brats!'

Unknown to him, being he experienced shinobi they were, Anko, Kakashi, and Jiraiya were also sleeping, but with their eyes open.

As was Shin, not that anyone knew with his cloak.

After nearly a half hour, A-Iruka was finishing up his long winded speech – much to the happiness of several people – and those sleeping woke up.

"… And since you are all untried Genin, just starting out of the academy, you are all given D-ranked missions and… hmm!?" Iruka stopped his lecture, noticing how no one was listening, Sasuke was out of commission for obvious reasons, Kakashi was reading his book, Sakura was staring into the abyss… yeah, Sasuke's… yeah… and Naruto was leaning against the mission desk talking to the Hokage.

"So old man remember that evil killer doll?" The teen mused while Beel sat on the desk.

Naruto perked up and grinned savagely at the reminder of that little bastard. Maybe he could convince Shin to let him turn it into his slave.

The old man nodded, "Yes, the one you've been trying to tame and train, any luck?"

"Well we've came to an understanding." he muttered.

"Oh?"

FLASHBACK

"Yeah flashback!"

"What did I say about biting your master!" Naruto growled, while crouched down in front of the door to its temporary prison while it screamed soundlessly while being throw around and around. The thing beeped and he grinned darkly at its pleading face.

"You wanna be good now? I've got plenty of change!" he chuckled before standing and putting a few more coins into the coin operated dryer at the Laundromat down the street from his apartment. "Well just a few more and your punishment will be over,"

FLASHBACK END

Anko whistled. Damn kid, he would make a great interrogator with the right training.

Tsunade suddenly shivered, feeling a disturbance in the force...of her peace. Something told her to deny any request Anko asks her regarding Naruto. For her sanity.

"You put it into a dryer?" the old man mused, chuckling lowly.

Naruto nodded, "Seven times actually, it took a while but the little bastard sure was soft."

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME YOU LITTLE BRAT!?" the chunin roared, making Naruto round on him.

"OI! WHO'RE YOU CALLING A BRAT!?"

"YOU!"

"ME!?"

"YEAH, YOU!"

"THAT'S IT, IT'S ON NOW!" he yelled, reaching into his pocket to retrieve a small scroll. He unsealed the contents and in a puff of smoke, the little assassin doll appeared and in a flash, sailed across the room and latched onto Iruka's head.

"AH!" Iruka screamed in fear, his mind immediately going back to the previous attack his other suffered at hands of that puppet. He shivered and turned pale while Naruto laughed.

The memories sealed away from before came rushing back and before they knew it, Iruka was screaming like a prepubescent boy being chased by a nude Orochimaru as the doll gnarled on his head with it's plastic teeth. The Chunin ran around the room a few times, screaming for help before tripping on Sasuke and knocking himself out.

Silence.

Iruka glared hard at the laughing and wheezing Naruto. Fuck. You. Naruto.

"Summoning scroll, huh?" the old man remarked to the blond as the doll unlatched itself from the scarred chunin and saluted the blond.

"Kind of, it's more of a storage scroll actually, we came to an agreement,"

"That so?"

Naruto nodded sagely, "Obey or suffer… so… about that mission."

Anko nodded at the agreement. Sound plan, very effective when used right.

Iruka shivered, hopping to never see that 'devil doll' again. (Shin read his mind and thought about it, but shook his head. He'll screw with Iruka later if he got bored)

"Land of Waves?" Hilda remarked as he returned home to prepare for the next day's mission.

Team seven blinked at that. Naruto frowned sadly. 'Haku.' He thought as he remembered his old friend and the one who thought him the real secret of becoming strong. By having and protecting those that were precious to him.

Naruto nodded, "Gotta escort some old bastard and protect him while he builds a bridge or something, it'll take a while too."

The blond nodded slowly, "I see…"

Naruto, who was laying on the couch sat up and watched as she retreated into his… their bedroom, "What's up with her?" he wondered, looking over to Beel who was watching a rerun of Gohan-kun before shrugging.

Twenty minutes later, she returned with a large trunk that he didn't know she owned, holding it as if it were nothing, "Please seal this with your things,"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Ok… why?"

"Because I'm going with you," she replied, setting the trunk down, causing the room to shake from the shock of something so heavy hitting the floor. "With you watching over the bridge builder, you will need someone to help care for the Master."

Naruto frowned, concerned about Hilda going with them to Wave, considering all the trouble that happened. Still, he knew the blonde demon maid could take care of herself. Doesn't mean he wasn't worried. He was also worried his counterpart was bringing Beel with him. However, something told him that bringing the demon baby to a dangerous horrific mission... wouldn't be something either B.B or Hilda would worry about.

"Ah… ok."

He really didn't have a problem, in fact, she was probably more than capable of handling herself so it wasn't like she'd need to be protected from an attack by bandits.

Hilda nodded and watched as he sealed the trunk along with his own things, Baby Beel was only half of the reason she was going. In truth, she wanted to stay with him for more personal reasons. There was a chance that she'd be able to see more of his power, to feel that heat inducing aura, that terrifying power that just sent shivers through her core.

"Oi, Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed as they headed towards the village gate where Kakashi said he would meet them with the client, "Why you walking so funny?"

Naruto and his male classmates snickered, while the Uchiha glared at them, gritting his teeth. Fuck. You. Dobe.

"Shut up." the teen growled back, causing the blond and Baby Beel to share a knowing, dark smirk.

"Yeah, shut up baka!" Sakura yelled.

A twitch.

After a long silence, there was a reaction from the silent Sakura, as her hand twitched.

Naruto looked at her from the corner of his eye, "Did you just say something? You're getting pretty brave considering that Kakashi isn't here."

"S-so."

"You know that there's a chance we'll be ambushed by bandits right?" he continued, "I hear that they like to take young girls like you and train them to do all sorts of humiliating things."

Naruto frowned, glaring at his counterpart. Why must his other be such a... bastard to Sakura?! She wasn't that bad!

"…"

"You'll never see your mommy or daddy again and the only thing you'll have to look forward to each day is when they get tired for the day and leave you quivering, sore, and tired in a pile covered in their own fluids."

Everyone flinched, the females shivering in fear as they held themselves. Tsunade and Kurenai glared at A-Naruto, mad that he would say such things nonchalant.

Naruto also glared at his counterpart, he couldn't believe that guy was him. That Naruto wasn't like him or that first Naruto. This guy was dark and mean. He seemed to enjoy hurting people. That wasn't like him at all!

If she wasn't nervous then she sure was now, they weren't even out of the village yet and she was already looking around as if she'd be dragged off into a dark alleyway by bandits.

"Oh, you're all here!" Kakashi greeted them once they reached the front gate, his eyebrow raised at the sight of them, Sasuke was brooding and if he wasn't mistaken, blushing? Naruto and his son had this dark look of self-satisfaction that made him take a step away. Sakura on the other hand was a quivering mess, eyes darting from side to side as if she was afraid that something would nab her and carry her away to never be seen again.

He shrugged. Oh well what could he do, it was expected for some people to be afraid to leave the safety of the village walls since that was all they knew.

Kakashi sighed. He didn't know if he should pity his counterpart for having such a dysfunctional team, or be afraid of any crazy or insane events in the future.

Standing next to him was the client, Tazuna, a grey-haired, bespectacled man with a grey bushy beard and dark eyes. He wore a sleeveless shirt with long pants and a pair of sandals along with a pointed hat on his head.

"This is the team I hired?" the man remarked, "There just a bunch of snot nosed kids, ones a baby!"

"That's not nice," Naruto deadpanned before looking to Sakura, "We all know she's a whiny bitch but it's no reason to call her names."

Naruto groaned while Sasuke sighed. While he hadn't shown any kindness than necessary to his female teammate, even he thought such criticism was a bit much. He didn't know about the other Sakura, but his had done her fair share of work. While not much to match the effort of him or Naruto, she had come a long way from the academy – even stopped constantly asking her on a date – and as such, didn't like how A-Naruto's words were affecting her. The two took a glance at said person, frowning when they saw her flinch at A-Naruto's words.

Kakashi sighed, "Anyway, if we're all ready, let's get going." he spoke before turning to walk, only for Naruto to stop him.

"Actually we are missing one person. Oh wait, here she is."

"Huh?"

Turning, Kakashi's one eye widened at the sight of the woman approaching, a look mirrored by Tazuna. She was an attractive young blond with the front of her hair covering one side of her face while the back was tied in a bun with a small braided ponytail near the bottom. She wore a black gothic lolita maids dress with frills and white quillings and has a white frilly choker around her neck with a thin black silk bow tied to keep it in place.

Hoping to calm the tense air, Asuma elbowed Kakashi at the side with a grin. "Easy, Kakashi. She's a married woman." He joked. The one eyed jonin chuckled, but it was a bit hallow. Asuma frowned, a bit concerned for the silver haired man.

"Took you long enough," Naruto mused as Hilda neared them, holding her pink umbrella over her head to shade herself from the sun.

"I had something to take care of before we departed," she said impassively, "It took longer than expected."

Seeing that his student knew this smoking hot blonde bombshell, Kakashi nudged him, "Naruto-kun, care to introduce us!"

"Huh… oh right, you haven't met her yet," he exclaimed, "Hilda, this is Kakashi. Kakashi, this is Hilda… my wife."

The Jounin froze, his world losing color and shattering like glass. Naruto's wife?! He heard the news before but Kami never did he expect this! She was gorgeous! Not to mention if she dressed like then imagine what she was willing to do in bed with that lucky bastard. Not to mention the new stories he'd be reading once Lord Jiraiya hears of this!

The toad sage gave a small chuckle, but it was unlike his usual hearty laugh as he looked at his student, who was looking at his female teammate in concern.

All of this proved to be too much at once for the Jounin and he passed out, his mask shining dully from the blood spewing from his nose.

"Yep…" Naruto mused, "We lost him…"

Kurenai shook her head with an exasperated sigh. Really Kakashi?

Tazuna, who's nose was stuffed with tissue looked to the blond, "So what now?"

Naruto shrugged, "I guess we wait for him to wake up…" he mused before producing a large stick and poking the Jounin.

"Really Naruto?" Kakashi deadpanned. The whiskered blonde just shrugged.

Not too long after passing out, Kakashi awoke and they were on their way, though he did complain about his eye and face hurting, not knowing that Naruto spent a good half hour poking him with that stick. The trip was almost quite to say the least, both Kakashi and Hilda were reading their own books while Sasuke and Sakura did whatever, Tazuna was drinking a bottle of sake he brought with him and Naruto was carrying Baby Beel on his head, who sang a silly little song to pass the time.

Sasuke finally snapped, "Damn it dope!" he growled, storming up to the blond, "Will you make that brat shut the hell up!"

No one noticed Naruto's eyes flash green for a split second, his hands clenching, but even the blonde didn't know he did that. Like it was a subconscious move.

Sasuke never saw Naruto's fist until it was too late, the blond never even looking as he slugged the Uchiha hard enough to end him across the road and shoulders deep into a tree.

Sasuke twitched, and looked like he was ready to start a fight with his rival because of that, but held himself back.

"Baby Beel," Naruto mused cheerfully, "Feel free to continue."

"Da-Bu!"

Kakashi sighed again, grabbing Sasuke and pulling him from the tree before dragging him along.

Unseen from a puddle they passed, the demon brothers looked at each other and nodded, "Fuck that!"

If a Genin was strong enough to do that then they weren't gonna risk it without help.

Kakashi raised a brow. Interesting. Looked like the mission might have a change of events in it. He wondered what else will change.

Meanwhile, Tsunade raised her own brow at the appearance of the famed Demon Brothers. She recalled reading that Team Seven took a mission to Wave like here, but she hadn't read if they encountered the missing ninja. In fact, if she remembered correctly, the mission was ranked as a C-mission. Meeting missing ninja would rank it higher, and demand genin teams be returned to the village.

She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the scene play. Paying extra attention.

When they finally reached the coast, they had to wait until early morning for the boat that would carry them across to arrive… or they would've. Deciding not to wait, Hilda summoned Akubaba and flew them not only across the water but all the way to Tazuna's home. Of course they had been shocked at the sight of the large bird but nothing that they couldn't explain by saying that it was a summon.

'Okay, looks like they aren't going to meet Zabuza soon.' Kakashi thought.

"Where the hell are they!?" Zabuza muttered as he and Haku waited at the ambush area.

"What the hell?!" Many people shouted, shocked at the appearance of the famed Demon of the Hidden Mist. With narrow eyes, Tsunade snapped to Kakashi.

"Kakashi! Did you team actually engage with Zabuza Momochi, a A-Rank missing ninja, in a C-Rank mission!" She ordered. The one eyed jonin rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at the looks he was getting from his Hokage, Jiraiya, Iruka, Anko, and his fellow jonin.

"Well, yes. But I was the only one who fought him." He answered. Unfortunately, that answer did not seem to calm the female Hokage. In fact, it just seemed to anger as she shot Killer Intent at him.

"It doesn't matter! You allowed you genin, I repeat, genin team, to face such a monster! Are you insane?!" She shouted at him. Kakashi flinched. He had taken a lot of time, and realized his decision may not have been the best of choice.

"I-um...I sorry?" He said sheepishly. He flinched from the hard glare she sent him.

"We will talk about this later, Hatake." She hissed out, making him gulp nervously.

"Maybe we should go on back to the hideout," Haku suggested only for Zabuza to shake his head.

"No, if we leave then they'll probably come through and we'll miss the chance to ambush them."

Haku sweat dropped, "But we've been here for three days."

"To be a ninja, you must have patience, remember that Haku,"

"Yeah…" she deadpanned, "I'll remember that."

Everyone sweatdropped. Shin chuckled. Well, looked like A-Zabuza was in for a long wait.

Suddenly, a message appeared in front of the group.

(Everything is basically the same as the original show except that since Naruto already knows tree walking he goes off to train on his own with Baby Beel.)

Everyone blinked in surprise but nodded in thanks to the helpful message. Though when asked what had happened at the time, Kakashi told them along with Naruto and Sasuke. The latter two getting into a fight over who had achieved three climbing first, before it was broken up by Tsunade.

Returning to Tazuna's home, Naruto and Beel walked into the living room to find Hilda sitting on the couch surrounded by a dark aura. Movement from the doorway into the kitchen caught his eye and he saw Tsunami, Tazuna's attractive young daughter grimace at the other woman before going back around the corner.

Naruto raised a brow, wondering what got Hilda in such a bad mood.

"Ok…" he muttered before walking over to the demon maid, "What's wrong?"

Her head slowly turned, her eyes shadowed by her hair, "Naruto… what time is it?" she questioned him darkly, making him raise an eyebrow and glance to the wall clock the family had in the room.

"About 1:30, why…" then it hit him, "Oh…"

Everyone was confused. What was wrong with what time it was?

"I asked that Tsunami woman why they didn't have cable like we do." she explained in a clam yet still very dark tone only for Naruto to cut in.

"Actually we don't have cable, we're splicing into the-" he started until she fixed him with a glare, "Sorry… I'll stop talking."

"As I was saying, I asked her why she didn't have it even though they have the equipment, it seems that this Gato person has forced the people here to pay ten times as much for service." Hilda continued, gaining a manic look in her eyes as she pulled her umbrella out of thin air and pulled the hidden sword out, "THAT FOUL LITTLE HUMAN MUST DIE!"

By then, Naruto and Beel were hiding behind the door to the kitchen like Tsunami did, afraid of what she would do with that sword in her rage as the dark, demonic aura around her moved like fire.

. . .

. . .

. . .

"Really?" Tsunade deadpanned, making Shizune chuckle awkwardly. It looked like Hilda really fancied her shows.

In a flash, she was standing in front of him and grabbed him by the collar of his orange and black jacket, "WHERE IS HE? TELL ME WHERE THAT INSECT IS SO THAT I CAN KILL HIM FOR THIS! NO ONE STOPS ME FROM WATCHING MY SOAPS!" the woman roared while shaking him around to the point where Beel was holding on to Naruto's hair for dear life.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Naruto cried out, not many things scared him but by Kami this would now be on the list.

Dropping the teen, ignoring the frightened looking ninjas and family sitting at the table a few yards away. Hilda, with sword in hand, stormed out of the house to hunt down a midget.

"Inari my boy," Tazuna told his grandson sitting next to him, who was looking at the twitching blond teen in the doorway, "That is why you should always be good to girls."

The kunoichi nodded. Shin sweated under his hood. Lord knows how many times he had come to fear the rage of a woman.

Later that night, Hilda returned, unhappy at not finding Gato but proudly stating that she killed two ninja, then showed the proof by presenting their heads like it said in one of Naruto's books that she read one day when he was out training.

The genin gagged at the grotesque sight while the younger kids had their eyes immediately covered.

Kakashi stated that they were the Demon Brothers of the Hidden Mist village, known accomplices of the 'Demon of the Bloody Mist' Zabuza. Knowing this, it was safe for them to assume that Gato hired Zabuza to kill Tazuna, making this mission more dangerous than C and up to an A ranked mission.

Kakashi sweatdropped. He actually felt sorry for the two for being found by the dangerous woman known as Hilda. She actually reminded him of a more silent, but still scary as hell Kushina. He hoped they wouldn't see another mini-Kushina.

Shin felt the urge to smile wickedly and sing "We'll see~..." in a foreboding tone, but pushed it aside.

Long story short, Tazuna explains with a sob story and they stay to complete the mission.

Sasuke scoffed. Damn sob story. It even got him to agree to continue the mission. Those things could be quite powerful. Though his reason was more to face stronger enemies.

"Ah Zabuza-sama?" Haku called as she approached her master, "The Demon Brothers were killed back in wave."

The man, who had been crouched on that limb in the tree for days, turned, "Damn those ninja, they must've known that I'd ambush them and went around the long way. The Demon Brothers said that they saw Sharingan Kakashi leading the team, no doubt he saw something with that damn eye of his."

"…Right…" Haku deadpanned, "So do we head on back to base?"

"Of course!" Zabuza stated before standing, but having crouched on that limb for so long, he cramped up and fell off the branch with a scream.

Anko laughed at the scene. "Oh man, now that's funny!" As the scene ended, Naruto looked at the silent Sakura on the couch. He frowned, and taking a deep breath, he began to approach her. He needed to talk to her. Everyone saw what he was doing, and remained silent, but moved away to give the two space.

Naruto sat down next to the silent Sakura. He frowned as he looked at her eyes. They held sadness, self-anger, hurt, and depression.

He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. What was he supposed to say? The words said about her, they came out of his own mouth, well sorta. His counterpart said them, but he was still him. Damn this whole alternate counterparts thing was getting confusing. Still, he had to say something. Wracking his brain around, he tried to look for the right worlds. "Sakura-chan..."

Sakura flinched at the sound of his voice, before stopping, her shoulders relaxing a bit. He kept his tone low, above a whisper and gentle. After a half minute of silence, Sakura finally moved and looked up at him. He smiled gently at her, even as he saw silent dry tear trails on her cheeks. That both made his heart ache, and feel angry at his bastard of a counterpart. While yes, he liked him for taking care of a toddler given to him at such a young age and having a, pseudo, family with a 'wife' and adopted son; didn't mean he liked his attitude.

"Naruto..." Sakura muttered so low he could barely hear her. He looked at her, patiently waiting for her to say something. "Do you think it's true...what that other you said about me? Am I really useless? A pathetic excuse for a ninja? A... bitch?"

"No!" Naruto immediately cut her off with a hard look. "You are not pathetic, Sakura! Everything that other me said, it isn't true!"

"How can you be so sure?!" She shouted at him, glaring at him with tears going down her cheeks. "What if he's right?! When have I ever helped out on missions?! When have I ever helped when we were up against a powerful enemy?! At Wave, all I did was guard Tazuna, and I almost left my post because I was scared for Sasuke! At the Chunin Exam, I did nothing while you and Sasuke fought Orochimaru. And when the two of you were knocked out, I was barely even able to protect myself, let alone you two against that Sound team. I would have died if Lee and Team Ten didn't arrive! My match with Ino was pathetic! It was just like my sparing matches during the academy. I would have lost and Ino would have won if you didn't help me push her out of my mind, and even then it ended with a draw! And when we went after Sasuke when he chased Gaara, I was knocked out through the whole thing after I recklessly jumped at Gaara! So tell me, after all that, how can I not be pathetic!" She demanded.

Naruto gave her a hard stare. "You are not pathetic! Remember that mission to the Land of Snow? How you went up against that big snow ninja guy? You actually fought him head on!" He reminded her. She became quiet. Frowning, Naruto looked at her. Tears continued to fall down her cheeks, but she met his eyes. She was paying attention to his words, her self-doubting stilled, but he would need to move fast before it worsened. Taking a deep breath, he continued. He placed a hand on top of hers, making her flinch at the contact but didn't make to move away, still looking at him. "Sakura, you are one of the smartest girls I know. At every written tests or ones that have to do with stuff like history, book smarts, or other stuff that just go over my head, you always get the highest score! And, sure, while you might not do well on physical parts *she flinched*, that does not make you pathetic. If there's one thing the old man and Iruka-sensei always pounded into my head, it's that a ninja doesn't rely only on physical strength, but only on getting smarter and using their brain. You are the brains of Team Seven, and that's why we need you. Sasuke and I might be strong and the heavy hitters, but we rely on you to make the plans to help guide us!" He told her, making her eyes widen at the strong tone in his voice. He meant everything he was saying. "And you're wrong. You are strong!" She frowned, looking down, but Naruto wouldn't let her cupping her chin, tilted her head up to look at him. "You are! You're a tough girl! It's actually one of the things that I like about you!" He said with a wide grin as she looked at him in shock. "You're really though, that it scared me and Sasuke sometimes." He revealed. "And most of all, you don't let people get to you." He said, making her frown. Naruto was wrong about that. "I'm not wrong." He said, making her look at him. "You may not know this, but I was there, years ago. At the park, when those girls were picking on you." She looked at him, eyes widened to the limit. He smiled sadly and nodded. "I was hiding in a tree, hiding from this group of big kids. I saw you. The first thing that caught my attention was your pink hair. It was really pretty. No, it was beautiful." He said. Sakura blinked, before blushing a bit. No one other than her parents had called her hair beautiful before. "I wanted to approach you, but was scared. Scared you'd be like the other kids, and be forced away by your parents."

Sakura frowned. Her parents wouldn't be like that and get her away from Naruto the moment they saw him...right?

"I then saw those girls picking on you. It made me angry, because it was like how I was picked on. Either about my whisker marks, or me being an orphan. I hated it, always being mocked or made fun of by either kids or adults. I was about to help you, but before I could, Ino came. Then, when I saw you at the academy, you were smiling and laughing, and that made me happy." He said, smiling at her. However, it just made Sakura feel really guilty for shouting at him and making fun of him. At times, she made fun of him for being an orphan, just because she wanted to follow the crowd. She really was a bitch. Naruto continued. "I actually didn't mind when you shouted at me." He said, getting her to look at him in shock. What was he saying?! How could he say that?! "I didn't mind, because unlike other people, you didn't pretend like I wasn't there. Like I didn't exist." Her heart clenched at that. Just how bad was his childhood? How bad did people treat him just because he was a jinchuuriki? "That's why I always asked you out on a date, even though I never even knew what a date was, or what it meant. Because I wanted to talk with you more. Because you were the first girl other than Ayame-chan to treat me like a person!" His large smile made tears fall down her cheeks, but unlike before, these weren't of self-pity. These were tears of sadness and anger.

Sadness for how Naruto was forced to live. And anger at herself for hurting such a kind and gentle person. There really was something she had in common with that other her. They were both bitches.

Hearing a chuckle, she rolled watery eyes up at Naruto. He was smiling at her. Like he always was.

"I was actually sad you had covered your forehead up with that ribbon you had, and then your headband. I like your forehead. I thought it was cute, cute enough to kiss."

Eyes widening, a gasp left her lips.

"You sure have a large charming forehead. Makes me want to kiss it."

Those words...those were like the words Sasuke told her on the day they became teammates. But...now that she thought about it, back then would Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke, who always sat in his desk with a permanent glare, actually and willingly say such things?

. . . .

Her eyes shacking, she looked at the largely smiling face of Naruto.

'Naruto...was...was it actually him who said that to me?!' She thought, her mind going frantic. 'Why? Why me? Why does he keep being so nice to me after all I did to him?! Why doesn't he get angry with me when I hit him?! Why does he always smile at me and just laugh?! WHY?!' She felt like her head was about to crack.

This Naruto...that other Naruto...both was complete opposites! Even more than him and Sasuke.

"Because no one want's a weak, useless little girl like you and in the end, all you'll ever be good at is laying on your back and spreading your legs for any drunk with enough change left over after a drinking binge at some seedy little bar."

"Sakura, you are one of the smartest girls I know. At every written tests or ones that have to do with stuff like history, book smarts, or other stuff that just go over my head, you always get the highest score! You are the brains of Team Seven, and that's why we need you. Sasuke and I might be strong and the heavy hitters, but we rely on you to make the plans to help guide us!"

"Why?"

Naruto blinked, looking at her in confusion. "Why what?"

Sakura was now crying, sobbing as tears fell down her cheeks, but she held herself strong as she looked at Naruto, meeting his eyes. Her eyes held desperation, wanting nothing more than for him to give her the answers she wanted. "Why are you so nice to me?! Why are you always so nice to me?! Even when I don't deserve it! After all the times I yelled at you, hit you, mocked you, so WHY?!" She screamed.

Naruto just smiled gently at her. "Because you were, are, and always will be the first girl I loved."

She gasped, staring at him with large, wide, shocked filled green eyes. Her mind raced at what she had just heard. Naruto...loved her? He loved her?!

Naruto gave her small, slightly sad smile. He confessed to her...but knew it was already too late. He knew... he always knew, Sakura's heart would always long for Sasuke. He just...he needed to at least tell her. It would help him move on. All he wanted, was for Sakura to be happy. No matter what.

"What that other me said, he was wrong. You are not weak. You are not pathetic. You're a brave kunoichi, strong, independent... you are also my teammate and I am glad to be on a team with you." Smiling, he raised a hand up, and cupped her cheek. Her eyes widened at his warm touch, her cheeks beginning to burn. "So please, don't listen to what that asshole me said. He's wrong, and I know you will prove it!" He said with a smirk. Sakura stared at him in shock. Naruto was...different from what he usually was. He wasn't acting goofy, or being loud. He had always been like this?

Rubbing her cheek with his thumb, he nodded to her. "So stop feeling so down. Where's that Sakura I know? The one who was brave and strong?"

"Naruto..." She muttered, before closing her eyes. Unknowingly, she pressed her cheek more into his palm. A soft smile appearing on her lips. "Thank you."

Chucking, Naruto nodded. "You're welcome, dattebayo!" He said, keeping his smile. "Feeling better?" He asked.

Smiling, Sakura nodded. "Yes, I do." 'Thanks to you, as always.'

Nodding, Naruto stood up. He held out a hand to her. Looking at the hand, she smiled and grabbed it, being helped up. Patting her on the shoulder in comfort, the two members of Team Seven walked to join the others. Along the way, Sakura glanced at Naruto, smiling. 'Naruto, you are always there for me. Even then I treat you badly. I promise, I will be a better friend to you and make up for how I treated you. I swear on my nindo, my ninja way.' She mentally swore, a determined look in her eyes.

She won't let what A-Naruto say about her affect her any more. She wasn't some stupid fangirl anymore. She was a proud kunoichi of Konoha! She would prove that dark Naruto wrong!

The others saw them approaching and smiled. A few of them had heard what Naruto had said to Sakura, and were proud of him. He really had changed since becoming a genin.

Shin looked at Naruto and smiled. He nodded. Naruto was growing up from the brat he was before. He was becoming wiser, smarter.

All according to plan.

End of Chapter 14

Father and Son: 8 chapters out of 11 done. So three more chapters left of this world.

Also, I KNOW what I put about Sakura being bullied and some other stuff didn't happen in canon. It was on purpose, I didn't make a mistake. I will explain it later. Just trust me for now.

As of this time, I am no longer accepting story requests, as I already have enough to last a long while. I appreciate the requests, but I might not be able to do ALL of them.

Also, I am looking for a FULL TIME PARTNER in helping me with my fics. Someone that can help me with stories, grammar, and ideas for if/when I get stuck.

I would look through the beta list, but there are just TOO many to look through.

Partner must be free enough to manage time between us, and be knowledgeable in at least the stuff I'm writing about. Or just have a large imagination.

That's all for now.

Ja ne!