Naru nearly dropped the milk that she had picked up as he said the fateful words, 'suspected of being traitors to the village' and turned to look at him with wide troubled eyes as her face went pale. Her fingers clutching the milk in her hands until her knuckles started to go white. He reached out and carefully took the jug from her and put it in the basket then gave her a sad look. She looked so shocked. Then whatever the Uchiha were planing, she wasn't in on it.

It was a relief to know that as he set the basket down and put his hands on her slender shoulders, she looked like she was about to faint. "Calm down. I'm sure that it's nothing but a big misunderstanding." He said gently. She nodded her head silently and started to walk down another aisle, when Itachi appeared behind her.

He frowned as he looked at her to the Anbu. What the fuck was this? Naru looked so pale, and her hands were shaking when he reached out and wrapped his arms around her. "Naru, are you okay?" He had sent her out for groceries over an hour ago and had gotten worried when he had heard that Minato had drawn her a map.

"I'm fine, Itachi. I'm fine, I just need to lay down for a while." Naru said with a shaky smile as he tangled his finger in her silken hair and pressed his mouth agianst her forehead. She didn't feel warm to him so a fever was out.

"Alright, lets pay for the groceries and get you home." Itachi said as he walked over to the Anbu and gave the man a cold look as he picked up the basket. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her as close to him as he possibly could as they walked back to the front of the store. He set the basket down next to the register and watched the kid ring their stuff up. He took the money that he had given to Naru to pay for their food and payed the kid and picked up the bags, making sure to keep one hand free so that he could keep Naru within his grasp just in case.

"Uchiha-san!" Umino called out as soon as he was outside of the store. He had'nt meant to frighten the girl, he had just wanted her to know the current situation and what it might mean for her and her husband. Itachi looked back at him and bared his teeth at the man.

How dare he say or do something to put Naru in such a state! It was bad for her and the baby to be stressed. "I have nothing to say to you Panther-san."

"I was merely answering her questions about the Uchiha."

"What makes you think that it is something that she should know?" Especially in her current condition. Itachi thought furiously as Naru grasped his shirt, drawing his attention away from Umino.

"Please don't be mad at him, Itachi. I did ask, and whether you like it or not....it is something that I doneed to know about." Naru said as she stared up at him. Itachi frowned, she would only be saying that if she knew what the results of the current situation was going to be. He got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He sighed, "Will you tell me what you know when we get home?" He asked in a low tone so that Umino wouldn't hear him. Naru thinned her lips and thought about it for a minute then nodded. She would have to tell him eventually, but she had hoped to at least wait until after the Kyubbi attack.

He gave her a tight lipped smile and turned to Umino. "I had better not see her like this again in your presence." Or I'll hunt you down and make you regret the day that you were ever born.

Itachi put Naru to bed shortly after she told him about the annihilation of his clan. She hadn't exactly said who had ordered the murders, or who had done it, but he knew that she knew who it was. If she was refusing to tell him then she was trying to protect him from the truth that might lead him down a very dark path. He loved her for that.

He also loved her for telling him that she was already planning to stop the massacre from happening. He would help her any way that he could, all she had to do was tell him what to do. He was sitting in the living room when the third Hokage dropped by for a visit shortly after Kakashi and Minato had gotten back from their missions. "Hello everyone."

"Lord Hokage, what are you doing here?"

Sarutobi held up a small cage with three chirping golden yellow and white ducklings. Itachi snorted in amusment and took the cage from him and sat back down, to pet the baby birds with his index finger, through the cage. Kakashi groaned, Naru was far more likely to kill, and cook the birds as soon as they got on her nerves, than she was to let them live to swim around the pond in the back yard.

"I've come to talk to all of you about.....where is Naru?"

"Resting. She had a difficult time today."

"Oh?"

"Minato drew her a map, got her lost and then she was frightened by one of your Anbu." Itachi explained as he glared at the Hokage for a second. His anger from earlier rising to the surface again.

Sarutobi made a humming sound as he frowned. "Sorry about that."

Itachi shrugged and set the small cage down on the floor at his feet. "Now what did you want to speak with us about?" Kakashi asked as he walked out of the kitchen while whiping his hands on a kitchen towel.

"I wanted to speak to all of you about making Naru my successor. I plan to step down in another month or so to spend time with my family, work on some hobbies, and such." Kakashi shrugged. It didn't really matter to him, he was used to taking orders from her.

"I don't mind. And I'm sure that it would work in the villages favor." Kakashi said as he leaned his elbows on the back of the couch on either side of Itachi's head.

"Are'nt you worried about her health, Kakashi."

"Not really, Naru can pretty much take care of herself. You'll find that out soon enough." Kakashi said with an evil grin. This damn village had'nt even seen the tip of the ice burg yet.