I have no rights to Naruto.

O0o0o

He walked away with a smirk that made people shy out of his path and stay away from him as he went to the ANBU headquarters. The sun was shining and the air was fresh but he ignored it as he was too caught up in relishing the look on Idate's face when he saw his Hellcat was pregnant. It was as if someone had just told him Santa Claus did not exist or Naruto when he found the ramen was out of stock for the week.

His hellcat had been soothing and caring, her maternal side making itself noticed more and more as of late, but even she had a glint of satisfaction in her eyes as she guided her brother-in-law to sit down.

To his extreme satisfaction, it seemed that marriage and impending fatherhood did nothing to ruin his reputation, but it even seemed to make people more uneasy; especially when his Hellcat was with him. He smirked at the ANBU scurrying away from him as he neared the Headquarters reiterating in his head how much fun it was to fuck with people.

Slowing down to let the civilians pass, he straightened his face as he saw a mother holding a child. He had been warned numerous times—and his Hellcat had punched him with each warning—to stop scaring the small children; children being those under the age of three in his mind, all others were fair a step forward he was suddenly hit in the legs and forced to stumble so as not to fall.

Instantly grabbing onto what hit him he looked down from his considerable height into the faces of two little gremlins, or as Iruka had called them: Seko and Juca. Seeing their mischievous eyes and dimpled faces fall as they looked up and up at Ibiki calmed him down somewhat. The little Hell spawn were wary of him.

Picking the red headed Seko up with his left hand and the brown haired Juca up with his right, Ibiki raised them up off their feet until their heads were level with his neck. Listening to them whimper as they dangled unceremoniously in his hands was beautifully justifiable after their behaviour in Headquarters a few weeks ago. Maybe he wouldn't kill them, just scare the shit out of them.

The resulting smirk that arranged itself on Ibiki's face twisted his scars, and as he narrowed his eyes at the two he slightly and begrudgingly admired their guts, 'or maybe it's stupidity' he countered, as they went pale-faced and trembling but refrained from wetting their pants. It was something of a self competition to see how many shinobi he could make wet themselves in a week...the high score so far was nine.

"What in the hell are you doing near my Headquarters?" He seethed as he brought them closer to his face so he could see their eyelashes in detail, uncaring that he was most likely getting spittle on them or that people had stopped in the street caught between outrage that he was yelling at children and fear as to what he might do to them due to their foolishness.

"Nothing," came the high squealed protest from the red head as he wrapped his small hands around Ibiki's wrist in an effort to relieve the pressure on his shirt as he began to squirm. It was his favorite shirt and he did not want the scary, smirking dude tearing it. Glancing out of the corner of his eye he saw Juca doing the same. But the dude wasn't letting go. Looking up, Seko stopped squirming quickly followed by Juca as they looked at his face. The scars had twisted even more and his dark eyes were narrowed into slits looking at them as if looking straight into their souls. This guy acted like he knew their deepest secrets (not very deep for academy students but they still counted) and could bring their worst fears to life. Suddenly the feeling of pure anger and fear washed over them. Still untutored in the effects of a chakra aura, their eyes widened in sheer despair as they clenched their legs together to hold their bladders

."What were you doing?" The low grumble sounded like a bear as it came from gritted teeth.

"Going to the sweet shop, it's a short cut!" Juca squealed them over carefully Ibiki abruptly dropped them to the ground with a large 'Ooff'.

With a loud "Huh," he watched as they rubbed the dirt off of their asses and looked up at him carefully.

"Stay away from my headquarters or you'll be my new interrogation dummies," he warned them as they gulped. Turning his back on them, he heard the sigh of relief that emitted from them due to their lucky escape but missed the mischievous grins and triumph at getting away from Morino Ibiki unscathed as they ran his office, he sat down and began to sort out the various documents that were awaiting him.

Coming across a bland envelope he opened it cautiously with a kunai and allowed the sheet of paper to slide out.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE THING?

Looking at the childish writing and smelling the sweet candy smell, Ibiki seethed as he quickly pushed his chair back and stalked out of his office and towards the reception. The anger on his face had the ANBU stepping aside smartly to allow him to pass as he strode up to the ANBU behind the desk. Breath caught in his throat, the ANBU stood up and nearly plastered himself against the wall as Ibiki leaned over him looking him in the eye and menacingly stated,

"You let two academy students into my Headquarters...into my office. Give me one good fucking excuse as to why I don't throw you into the Forest of Death for a month. If you ever, and I mean ever, let those gremlins get pass you again I will have you brought down to gen..."

Everyone watching shivered to the depths of their souls as Ibiki broke off and began to chuckle evilly, momentarily morphing into an insane laugh as his gaze swept the room and he said, "Better yet...if anyone disobeys my orders from now on, I will send you to my Hellcat. It would be nice for her to have an accompanying punching bag for her hormones."

In an uncharacteristic display of glee at a good idea, Ibiki walked back to his office whistling as the ANBU he left behind scrambled to finish their work, carry out orders, and to quite simply be out of the line of fire.

O0o0

The thought of handing any incompetent ANBU over to his Hellcat to serve as her stress reliever kept Ibiki in a good mood for the entire day. He was smirking away envisioning incidents of his pink haired pregnant wife punching an idiotic ANBU to the floor or making them fetch one of her slightly more creative food cravings. Luckily, years in the Interrogation and Torture Unit had given him an iron stomach when it came to watching his Hellcat consuming some of the strangest concoctions he had ever heard of. He was happy walking home; he was happy about talking to Idate and perhaps fucking with him a bit more. He was happy. That is, until he walked into his home and saw his Hellcats two teammates, the knuckle-headed baka and the traitor who had hurt his wife. He didn't care if she had forgiven him, he hadn't.

Suffice it to say his good mood pinned them to their seats with an angry gaze. This was his home, his private dwelling, and now they were here sitting in his seats and drinking his alcohol from his glasses. The outrage was building and building. Just as he was about to ask what the fuck they were doing here his Hellcat came in smiling with an equally smiling Idate. Not even giving her time to greet him he gently propelled her into the kitchen.

"What the hell are they doing here?" Looking into Ibiki's accusing eyes Sakura huffed, "I invited them to dinner."

"You were only supposed to invite Idate."

"They're his friends and my teammates."

"I don't care, they're a knuckle-headed baka and a traitor."

"Don't you fucking dare," Sakura suddenly seethed her temper more ready than ever to protect what was hers. "This is my home too and I can invite whoever I want over just as easily as you can. Naruto and Sasuke may not be perfect but they are my friends and they were and are my family. Just as you and Idate are my family." She effectively shut him up as he remembered her parents were no longer around and her team had been her only family for years before he came into the picture.

"Just give me some kinda fucking warning," he relented as her eyes softened. "Hmmm, like how Hinata's going to be filling this place up with balloons, banners, and soft toys for the baby shower?" She gently smiled her temper dissipating as quickly as it had risen. Watching a grown man groan at the idea of his gorgeous home covered in baby shower trappings was amusing as hell she thought as Ibiki ran a hand over his face.

"Yeah, like that."

"I also invited Hinata over so I wouldn't be on my own," she admitted to him. With a sigh he confessed as he walked out into the living room,

"At least you invited the one I can stand."

Having explained to his Hellcat's chagrin and her teammate's amusement that while she could cook a decent meal for two or three, creating one for any more was outside the realm of possibility. All the years of using precise measurements for minute amounts of deadly poisons and antidotes had affected her so-called blending skills. Similar to the idea that yes, you can brew small amounts of putchin in your attic and it will be amazing, but to make amazing large amounts you have to upgrade and use the bigger equipment. Sakura continually burnt any kind of meal when it was in a pot size she was unused to.

That was how Sasuke, Naruto, and Idate found themselves watching Morino Ibiki cooking the dinner as Sakura set the table. Or in their opinion, knife started with pork strips, laying them out carefully on the chopping board. Looking over at his cooking knives he decided to use a larger meat cleaver than was necessary. Picking it up, he examined it in the light ignoring the unsettled looks of his audience and, getting a cloth from the drawer, he gently wiped the blade up and down testing the edge.

'Tutt'ing, he pulled out the round, steel knife sharpener and started to run the rough steel over the blade edge. The sharpening steel grating noise filled the kitchen as the young men watched the light flashing off the steel. A quick wipe and Ibiki quickly, precisely, and viciously cut the pork strips into pieces with resounding thunks as the blade hit the wooden chopping boards. They watched in rapt fascination as he repeated the process of sharpening the knives and testing their sharpness for cutting the different vegetables.

The similarity of the pork strips, the carrots, the parsnips, the sweet corn, and the cucumbers to a certain part of the male anatomy was not lost on any one of the males as they watched each piece being reduced to precisely cut segments and thrown into the wok as Ibiki looked at them with a glint in his eye. As Sakura busied herself by putting on the rice, a slight knock came from the door. Asking Idate to get it, Sakura talked with her brothers as Ibiki carefully flipped the food in the wok.

Hinata was gently guided in by Idate who had wrapped her up in talk of business and the similarities of her clan and his Boss's family. Both enjoying the opportunity to talk to a new business person had failed to notice the disappointment on Naruto's face when Hinata greeted him distractedly. The meal was delicious and Sasuke and Naruto begrudgingly complimented Ibiki's cooking thinking that his ability with knives was a little bit overkill.

Naruto had been like a lost puppy, forgotten at the side of the table, as Idate sat beside Hinata for the whole meal and kept her in continuous talks throughout. He would pass her the food with a joke making her lightly giggle, entertained her with funny stories about family life, and was the perfect gentleman to her. He was totally monopolizing her from anyone else, especially a blue-eyed blonde. Naruto's building frustrations did not go unnoticed by the rest of the table as Sasuke watched with veiled patience and Ibiki and Sakura enjoyed the entertainment.

After dinner they moved from the kitchen to the living room, settling themselves in the comfortable leather furniture. Just as the night was winding down and everyone was getting ready to leave Idate turned hesitant eyes at the lavender girl he had conversed with all night."If it wouldn't be too forward, maybe we could meet up tomorrow and continue our discussion?" The room stilled as Hinata smiled and replied. "I—"

"Is already meeting me," Naruto interrupted as he stood between the two his body slightly taller than Idate's as he stared him down with barely suppressed frustration, jealousy, and anger. Turning around he gently grabbed the lavender haired woman's hand and, muttering a quick goodbye, escorted her out leaving a stunned group to close the door that had been left open in Naruto's haste, Sakura was gently pushed aside as her blonde brother re-entered alone capturing everyone's attention as he muttered loudly,

"Forgot something." Walking straight up to Idate, he pulled back his arm and with a swift swing punched the brown haired man in the face sending him sprawling to the ground. Looking down Naruto stated with a pointed finger,

"Stay away from my Hinata-chan!" before turning around and walking back out, closing the door behind him.

A pride-filled "Dobe" from Sasuke had Sakura quickly dissolving into laughter as she sat down on the leather sofa. "About fucking time," Ibiki muttered as he watched his younger brother sit up shakily holding his cheek with a groan.

Looking up at his brother and sister-in-law laughing openly at him and Sasuke's amused attitude, Idate growled out angrily, "See what happens next time you ask me for a favor."

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Sakura composed herself enough to hit back saying, "We're not laughing at your pain, we're laughing at the entertainment you provided." Before setting off into another fit of laughter as she clutched her pregnant stomach.

O0o0o

He walked her straight to the Hyuuga Complex not saying one word, not letting go of her hand, but holding a slow pace with her so he wasn't dragging her along. Arriving at the gates he abruptly stopped and looked down at her, looking into her pearly eyes he gathered his courage and blurted out, "Will you go out with me tomorrow?"

He watched in fear of rejection as Hinata gulped her creamy white skin gently moving. Wow, how come he hadn't noticed before how soft and white her skin looked. Her hair framing her face brought out her eyes and made them look so big and bright he realized. Seeing her look at him he suddenly focused on her lips as she spoke, her soft plump lips.

"I-I would li-like tha...at."

Nothing could have kept the grin form his face or the sparkle from his eyes as she agreed with no argument or giving out that he had dragged her from Sakura's, but just a nice and simple agreement.

"W...we could g-go for ra-ramen," she offered nervously eager to please and to spend some time with the blond before his head Naruto looked up at the gates of the Hyuuga Complex and down at the lavender haired beauty before him. In the pale moonlight she looked nearly ethereal he realized; the pale glow illuminating her skin, her eyes shining so bright, and her hair darkened in the night.

"You like the sushi place near the main hotel right?" He questioned with sudden clarity. If he was going on a date with this woman then he was going to do it right. After all, how many times had he heard the kunoichi's giving out about crappy dates?

"Ye-Yes."

Hearing the tentative agreement Naruto plastered on one of his happy-go-lucky grins and said, "Okay, we'll go there."

Awed that he knew her favorite restaurant and she was going on an actual date with her life-long crush, Hinata was in a daze as they agreed to a time.

The feeling of warm lips on the corner of her lips had her eyes shooting up to look at Naruto as he pulled away from his brief peck on her cheek, his face going red. It had seemed the right thing to do he thought as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. Seeing her small smile, he sighed in relief and with a goodbye set off towards home for the night feeling like he was on cloud nine.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there in a happy fog of euphoria but when the guard came and escorted her inside to the main buildings and her room she felt she was walking on air, and if this was a dream then she never wanted to wake up.

O00o0o0

Dia Duit,

Thanks to Boxing Bunny for going over this for me.

I hope you enjoyed it and as usual please let me know what you thought.

Lots of love,

The Rose and the Dagger x x xx